Indian shuttler, Tanvi Sharma wins maiden BWF Super 300 title at Taipei Open

Teen sensation Tanvi Sharma clinched her maiden BWF World Tour title after defeating Vietnam’s sixth seed Thuy Linh Nguyen in straight games in the women’s singles final of the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Taipei City on Sunday. The 17-year-old from Punjab, who had finished runner-up at last year’s US Open Super 300, needed just 36 minutes to outclass world No. 21 Nguyen 21-16 21-16 in the summit clash.

“I’m really very happy to win this title here,” said Tanvi, who became the youngest champion in Taipei Open history at just 17 years and 222 days old, surpassing the legendary Tai Tzu Ying. “I didn’t expect to win a title, but yeah, I just thought I’ll give my best over here. So I was going step by step, match by match. So yeah, every match I played really well here.”

Coached by PV Sindhu’s former mentor Park Tae-sang, Tanvi also became the first Indian to win the women’s singles title at the Taipei Open since Saina Nehwal, who had lifted the trophy in 2008. “I was quite nervous, but I just thought I will play my 100 percent, what I have in my game, I will play that,” said Tanvi, who dropped only one game all week. “It was pretty hard for me as well, playing five matches. But yeah, I just needed to be consistent.  I have to work harder for playing Super 500 and 750s. So I’ll be keep working hard.”

Tanvi had defeated Nguyen en route to the final at US Open. The Indian made a flying start, repeatedly catching Nguyen at the front court with deft drops played with the same action as a smash to open up a 4-1 lead.

The Vietnamese struggled to read the Indian’s deception and also found it difficult to judge the drift, going wide twice as Tanvi mixed steep cross-court smashes with her trademark touch to surge to a 10-2 advantage. The Indian, however, suddenly slipped into a string of errors, struggling to keep the shuttle inside the lines. She eventually produced a timely smash to carry a three-point lead into mid-game interval, with coach Park Tae-sang urging her to relax.

Tanvi found her rhythm after the break, producing powerful smashes from both flanks to move 15-9 ahead. Though she gifted away a few points with errors at the net and from the back court, she regained control, earning five game points before sealing the opening game with a cross-court smash. After the change of ends, Nguyen opened a 3-0 lead by making Tanvi cover the court with sharp angles. But the Indian slowly began dictating the rallies, drawing level at 3-3 with a fine net shot before once again pushing her opponent deep and catching her at the net with deft touches.

Nguyen’s inconsistency also helped Tanvi build an 8-4 lead before another patch of errors allowed the Vietnamese to close the gap to 7-8, prompting Park to tap his head in frustration. Two exquisite deceptive winners helped Tanvi take an 11-8 lead at the interval.

The Indian gradually stretched the advantage to 15-10 and then 18-12, her deception once again fetching crucial points. At 19-12, Tanvi unsuccessfully challenged a line call after being ruled late, but soon earned seven match points with a smash. A nervous finish saw her squander three of them before she finally converted to seal her maiden BWF title. In a heartwarming moment, Tanvi took off her gold medal and placed it around coach Park Tae-sang’s neck before the two posed together for photographs.

Tanvi is the youngest finalist in the tournament’s history, surpassing Korean doubles great Lee Yong Dae, who was 17 years and 287 days old when he reached the men’s doubles final in 2006.