With reigning Asian U-15 girls singles champion Tanvi Patri spearheading their campaign, Odisha shuttlers are looking forward to capture at least two medals at the 36th Sub-Junior (U-15 & U-17) National Badminton Championship, which commenced at Tamil Nadu Physical Education And Sports University in Chennai, Tamil Nadu today.

Dubbed as the future PV Sindhu of India, Tanvi has been in great form this year, bagging U-15 and U-17 singles double crowns at two All-India Junior Ranking Tournaments in Goa and Hyderabad, besides becoming the third Indian to win the U-15 girls singles gold medal at the Asian Junior Championship in Chengdu, China.

A cadet of Bangalore-based Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, 13-year-old Tanvi has been named as the top seed in both the U-15 and U-17 singles events in the 36th Sub-Junior National Championship. A two-time National U-13 girls singles champion, Tanvi is eyeing to grab her first medal in U-15 and U-17 categories this time.

A native of Markona in Balasore district, Tanvi started her U-15 singles campaign on a confident note today as she marched into the third round with a bye in the first round and 21-13, 21-17 win in the second round against Devanshi Dalal (Haryana).

Odisha State Badminton Association has sent a 16-member State squad for the week-long Chennai Sub-junior National, which will conclude on October 25. Among other Odisha players in action today, Somyajeet Sahoo won his U-17 boys singles first-round match, beating Manku Taku (ANP) 12-21, 23-21, 21-17.

ODISHA SQUAD:

BOYS: Ojodeep Majhi, Durga Prasad Sethi, Nathaniel Mario Redden, Mayank Bharadwaj, Somyajeet Sahoo, Shreyansh Jena, Subhraketan Mallick, Jaykrushna Garda.
Girls: Tanvi Patri, Swati Nayak, Nimeesha Ojha, Aditi Swain, Geetashree Dey, Adya Padhi, Sweety Priya Pradhan, Jessica Sahu.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Tanvi Patri at the 36th Sub-Junior National Badminton Championship in Chennai on 20 October 2024.