Punching above her weight has become a habit for Odisha badminton prodigy Tanvi Patri. At the age of 13 years, she became U-15, U-17 National and U-15 Asian girls singles champion. She also bagged the first of her two U-13 National gold medals when she was 11 years old.

Today, Tanvi sprang yet another surprise by reaching the womens singles final on her first appearance, that too in an international tournament. She achieved the feat at the CM Trophy India International Challenge Badminton Tournament, which is being held at Isports Badminton Arena in Raipur, Chhattisgarh from November 12.

The stunning performance of Tanvi assumed added significance as she entered the final after starting her campaign as a qualifier. In her two qualifying matches, Tanvi beat Indian opponents Siya Singh 21-7, 21-12 and Sarah Sharma 21-7, 21-7.

In the main draw, Tanvi got off to a heavy-hearted win as she defeated her senior state-mate Harshitaa Rout 21-6, 21-5. A trainee of Bangalore-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Tanvi won four more matches before securing a berth in the final.

She eliminated 10th seed Deepshikha Singh 21-23, 21-14, 21-14, Muskaan Khan 23-21, 21-16, Surya Charisma Tamiri 21-12, 21-14 and third seed Isharani Baruah 21-16, 21-10 to set up tomorrow’s title clash against fourth seed Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj (Tamil Nadu).

Meanwhile, Odisha mens doubles pair of Abinash Mohanty and Ayush Pattanayak advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Chayanit Joshi and Mayank Rana 12-21, 14-21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Tanvi Patri at the CM Trophy India International Challenge Badminton Tournament in Raipur on 16 Nov 2024.