BWF World Junior Championships 2025: Calm Tanvi Sharma mounts comeback to make history

Tanvi Sharma revealed how her coach Park Tae-seng motivated her as she made a comeback in the BWF World Junior Championships quarterfinals at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati on Friday, becoming the first Indian girl in 17 years to ensure a podium-finish.

Tanvi, who beat Japan’s Saki Matsumoto 13-15, 15-9, 15-10, trailed 5-8 in the decider before the final change of ends. “My coach said, ‘Just play inside (the lines). These are your last seven points of World Juniors. So, give your everything,’” said the 16-year-old.

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Top seed Tanvi, who became the first Indian girl to assure a medal since Saina Nehwal’s gold in Pune in 2008, also had a blip in the opener. “I was leading 10-6 in the first game before I made many unforced errors. In the second game, I was very comfortable from the first point and I just played aggressively,” said the 16-year-old adding, “I am very happy to be the first Indian girl to win a medal after Saina  didi’s gold in 2008.”

Tanvi has been training at the same venue for the past one year but match conditions are another challenge. “Conditions are very different. The side drift and the drift at the back from one side was too much today,” she said. 

Keeping the Indian challenge alive, Tanvi will be up against China’s Liu Si Ya in the semifinals on Saturday.

Published on Oct 17, 2025