BWF World Junior Championships 2025: Tanvi flies high, joins Unnati and Rakshitha in round three
Amongst the Indian players, Tanvi Sharma made the smoothest transition from the relay system of the mixed team competition to the shortened best-of-three games format for the individual leg of the BWF World Junior Championships on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old Tanvi, well-rested since playing in India’s final group-stage fixture of the Suhandinata Cup against the UAE on Wednesday, took just 11 minutes to brush aside Poland’s Wiktoria Kaletka 15-2, 15-1 at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati.
The top-seeded Indian, awarded a first-round bye, takes on Indonesia’s Oei Louisa Jovanka Sandi Winarto for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.
Eighth seed Unnati Hooda and 10th seed Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj also joined Tanvi with comfortable wins but Vennala Kalagotla’s singles campaign ended with a disappointing 6-15, 5-15 loss to fifth-seeded Thai Tonrug Saeheng.
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“For the last three weeks, I was mostly practising for doubles. I felt I lagged in terms of movement. Also, since it was just 15 points per game, it finished before I could even realise,” said the 17-year-old, who moved to third round in doubles with partner Reshika Uthayasooriyan courtesy a walkover from their Polish opponents.
All four Indian boys – Rounak Chouhan, H Lalthazuala, Suryaksh Rawat and Tankara Gnana Dattu Talasila – progressed to the next stage with Rawat and Gnana Dattu setting up an all-Indian clash.
India’s hopes of a first-ever medal in doubles took a hit as two duos each in mixed and boys’ events were shown the exit door.
The tournament had its first major upset as Indonesia’s Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan, the seventh seed in girls’ singles, went down 15-12, 7-15, 8-15 to Chinese Taipei’s Shu-yu Wen.
Germany’s Katharina Nilges and Poland’s Kaja Ziolkowska became the first set of players with mid-match retirements due to fatigue and back issues, respectively.
Second-round results (Indians Only):
Girls’ Singles: [8] Unnati Hooda bt. Liu Hoi Kiu Anna (HKG) 15-8, 15-9; [10] Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj bt. Lucy Yang (CAN) 15-5, 15-9
Boys’ Singles: [11] Rounak Chouhan bt. Thisath Rupathunga (SL) 15-3, 15-6; [15] Suryaksh Rawat bt. Yigitcan Erol (TUR) 15-5, 15-8; H Lalthazuala bt. Rylan Tan (USA) 15-11, 15-5; Tankara Gnana Dattu Talasila bt. Joaquim Mendonca (BRA) 15-10, 15-13
Mixed Doubles: [14] Bhavya Chhabra/Vishakha Toppo bt. Ghian Rizqy Sofyan (INA)/Salsabila Zahra Aulia (INA) 15-4, 13-15, 15-5; C Lalramsanga/Taarini Suri bt. Ralph Nino Dalojo (PHI)/Andrea Princess Hernandez (PHI) 15-12, 15-5 Boys’ Doubles: [6] Bhargav Ram Arigela/Viswa Tej Gobburu bt. Andrej Macek (SVK)/Andrej Suchy (SVK) 15-7, 15-6
Girls’ Doubles: [16] Aanya Bisht/Angel Punera bt. Wiktoria Kaletka (POL)/Olga Szwarnowiecka (POL) 15-12, 15-11; [7] Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat bt. Alya Elghandour (EGY)Fatema Rabie (EGY) 15-3, 15-5
Published on Oct 14, 2025