Mumbai: India’s top junior badminton star Tanvi Patri registered a dominating win over Thailand’s Kungkaew Kakanik to reach the final in the u-15 girls’ singles section at the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships in Chengdu, China, on Saturday.
Patri, seeded No. 1 in the girls’ U-15 category, was made to work hard in the opening game by the sixth-seeded Kakanik of Thailand but ultimately breezed through to a 21-19, 21-10 win in just 31 minutes.
She will now face second seed Nguyen Thi Thu Huygen of Vietnam, who got the better of China’s Liu Yu Tong 21-18, 17-21, 21-19 in the other semifinal.
Samiya Imad Farooqui had won the U-15 girls singles crown in 2017 and Tasnim Mir was victorious in the same category in 2019.
However, there was a heartbreak for India in the u-17 boys singles as Gnana Dattu TT went down against Indonesia’s Radithya Bayu Wardhana in three games and will come home with a bronze medal.
Gnana Dattu started aggressively against Radithya and looked on course to book a spot in the final when he easily grabbed the opening game. But the Indian lost momentum and also needed a medical time-out as he went down 9-21, 21-13, 21-13.
In the last edition of the championships, India won the gold medal in the boys’ U-15 singles category and a silver in the U-17 girls’ singles.
Results:
U-15 Girls’ singles: 1-Tanvi Patri (Ind) bt Kungkaew Kakanik (Tha) 21-19, 21-10
U-17 Boys’ singles: Radithya Bayu Wardhana (Ina) lost to 2-Gnana Dattu TT (Ind) 9-21, 21-13, 21-13.
(IANS)
