Tanvi Sharma starts lead-up preparation to World Juniors next month with U19 Krishna Khaitan Memorial title

“I had lost against Anmol Kharb didi last year in the finals and wanted to make amends this time. Winning All India Ranking titles does motivate me and the goal now is the World Junior Championships starting later this month. Yes, I do understand that I need to start training at an academy or at a centre at this stage of my career too but then I have to balance my junior tournaments as well apart from 10th exams. Let’s see what future holds for me,” says the youngster, who won the Naidu Hall Rolling Trophy apart from the N Haridass Rolling Trophy in the tournament.

Sharma would start playing badminton following her mother and coach Meena Sharma who plays volleyball at the DC Complex in Hoshiarpur. Sharma Sr would enrol her for a coaching course in badminton to get her elder daughter Radhika and Tanvi to train. A five year stint at the Gopichand academy for the sisters starting 2016 saw Tanvi train as a non scholarship trainee there till 2021. She would subsequently make the Nationals final and miss out to Anmol.

While she won the silver medal in Asian U15 Junior Championship in China apart from Kotak India International title last year, the youngster was also part of the quarter-final reaching Indian women’s team in Uber Cup last year. Sharma, who was also part of the gold medal winning Badminton Asia Team Championships last year, played one match in the Uber Cup. Though she lost 7-21, 16-21 against two-time Asian champion and five-time BWF world tour winner current world number five Wang Zhi Yi, the Punjab youngster took a lot of positives from the match. “While I was injured in the Asian Championships, playing against a player like Zhi Yi made me learn a lot of things. Playing in such a big stadium of course was a new thing for me and the biggest positive from the match for me was to observe the patience level of Zhi Yi and her strokes and footwork. Later, I also met Tai Tzu Ying and An Se Young. I try to learn the court management and variations in strokes from Tzu Ying and An Se Young’s deceptive drops and her hold flicks. With Sindhu didi, I just watched how she carried herself after being a two-time Olympic medallist and hopefully will ask for some tips one day,” shares Sharma.

While Anmol, against whom Sharma lost in the senior nationals after suffering an injury, won her maiden senior international BWF International Challenge title at the Belgian International, Sharma knows she has to wait. The 15-year-old had won the BWF Future Bonn International earlier this year. Last month, Sharma faced Kharb in the second round of the Indonesia International Challenge, where she faced a narrow 18-21, 22-20,19-21 loss.

“I keep watching Anmol didi’s matches too and whenever we get together or talk over phone, we discuss each other’s game too. When I suffered the hamstring injury in the senior nationals in December, I was a bit hurt to miss my maiden senior title. But then spending time with my mother helped me. I have worked on my strokes, deception and foot movement in recent months,” says the youngster, who idolises Akane Yagamuchi.

Coach Sankar Annamali too chips in with his views. “Players at this age need the sharpening of their skills as well as the power and stamina in the next four years so that they can play Internationally in these four years too. I could sense the skill mastery in Tanvi’s game and she manages the court well at such a young age,” says the Malaysian.

Before she accompanies her mother to hire an auto rickshaw to the bus stand to catch the bus to Hoshiarpur, Sharma is quick to click a picture with the rolling trophy. “Whether I make it big or not, each trophy is precious for me and my mother,” signs off Tanvi.