BWF World Junior Championships: Tanvi Sharma smashes her way past China’s Liu, on cusp of clinching historic gold

The decibel levels at the National Centre of Excellence (NCE) in Guwahati rose in sync with the dhol beats but one spectator could barely look at the action unfolding on the Centre Court.

As Tanvi Sharma inched closer to the finish line in her BWF World Championships semifinal, Meena, the 16-year-old Indian’s mother, took the Saturday crowd’s reaction as a cue to stop staring at her mobile screen and check the score.

Seated with a clinched fist in the upper tier, Meena finally turned to the action in front of her as Tanvi served for the match. The 11-shot rally ended with the attempted down-the-line smash from China’s Liu Si Ya, Tanvi’s opponent, only finding the net.

A relieved Meena could finally afford to smile. The proud mother stood up and joined the rest of the spectators in applauding Tanvi as she completed a comprehensive 15-11, 15-9 win to become only the fifth Indian to reach a World Juniors final — joining the elusive club that includes Aparna Popat (1996 runner-up), Saina Nehwal (2006 runner-up and 2008 champion), Siril Verma (2015 runner-up), and Sankar Muthusamy (2022 runner-up).

Tanvi Sharma is greeted by her coach Park Tae-Sang after her victory in the semifinal.
| Photo Credit:
Ritu Raj Konwar

A day after her come-from-behind win over Japan’s Saki Matsumoto in an exhausting 47-minute battle, the top-seeded Indian needed only 31 minutes to take down the Asian Junior Championships silver medallist.

Park Tae-seng, the Korean coach who trains Indian juniors including Tanvi at NCE, had said, “Tanvi’s style includes smashes” as he felt she didn’t use her key weapon during her win over Matsumoto.

Against Liu, Tanvi wreaked havoc with her smashes, beginning from a cross-court winner at 2-3 in the opener. At 4-3, she fired one down the line before unleashing another cross-court smash at 6-3. The Chinese player was also subjected to multiple sharp drop shots and effective net kills.

Leading 12-4 in the second game, Tanvi netted a relatively simple tap followed by a few more errors. However, she got back on track with another smash down the line at 12-8 and soon generated five match points.

On Sunday, Tanvi will be up against second-seeded Thai shuttler Anyapat Phichitpreechasak, a player she has beaten in their only meeting at the Asian U-17 Junior Championships in 2023, as she looks to emulate Saina (Pune, 2008) and win a gold on home soil.

Top-seeded Indonesian Mohd. Zaqi Ubaidillah, who saved three match points before winning an hour-long thriller 14-16, 16-14, 15-12 against Li Zhi Hang, will take on Liu Yang Ming Yu, third seed and a Chinese southpaw, in the boys’ singles final.

Published on Oct 18, 2025