Tanvi clinches maiden Super 300 title, becomes youngest Taipei Open champion in event’s history

Taipei: Seventeen-year-old Tanvi Sharma claimed her maiden BWF World Tour Super 300 title and etched her name into the history books as the youngest player across any category to win the Taipei Open.

Tanvi delivered a commanding 21-16, 21-16 victory over Vietnam’s sixth seed Nguyen Thuy Linh in Sunday’s women’s singles final, becoming only the second Indian women’s singles player to win the Taipei Open after Saina Nehwal (2008).

The win ended a 17-year title drought for India at the event, marking the nation’s third overall victory since the mixed doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and V Diju won during the tournament’s Grand Prix Gold era in 2009.

In the opening game, Tanvi quickly asserted her dominance, racing to a 10-2 lead. Although Nguyen narrowed the gap to 10-8, the Indian was never behind and comfortably took the first game 21-16.

The second game saw Tanvi trailing 0-3 early on, but she quickly recovered to take the lead, eventually extending her advantage to seven points. Showcasing an attacking strategy, she never let her opponent slow down, utilising great cross-court shots and precise placement. She maintained her momentum to seal the game 21-16, taking the final point with a brilliant cross-court drop shot to wrap up the summit clash in just 36 minutes.

With this win, she becomes only the fourth Indian women’s singles shuttler to secure a Super 300 or higher-level title, joining an elite club alongside Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Devika Sihag. She also becomes the third-youngest player in the world to win a BWF Super 300 event.

Reflecting on her phenomenal campaign, Tanvi shared, “I’m really happy to win this title. Going step by step and match by match, I just wanted to give my best here and felt I played really well throughout the tournament. I was quite nervous, but I told myself to give 100 percent and stick to my game.”

This was only the second BWF World Tour title match of Tanvi’s young career, coming slightly over a year after she finished runner-up to Beiwen Zhang at the US Open. At 17 years and 222 days, she also became the youngest finalist in tournament history, eclipsing Korean doubles legend Lee Yong Dae, who was 17 years and 287 days when he reached the men’s doubles title bout in 2006.

IANS