A record-breaking Taipei Open triumph
Seventeen-year-old Tanvi Sharma captured her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Taipei Open on Sunday, August 2, defeating sixth-seeded Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam 21-16, 21-16 in the women's singles final. At 17 years and 222 days, Tanvi became the youngest champion across all categories in the tournament's history, surpassing the previous mark held by Tai Tzu Ying. She dropped only one game across five matches during the week.
The title carried extra weight for Indian badminton: Tanvi became the second Indian woman to win the women's singles at the Taipei Open, following Saina Nehwal's 2008 triumph, and ended India's 17-year wait in that category. It was India's third Taipei Open title overall after Jwala Gutta and V Diju won the mixed doubles in 2009.
How the final played out
Tanvi entered the final with confidence after earlier beating Nguyen this season at the US Open. She raced to a 10-2 lead in the opening game with cross-court smashes and net work, absorbed a brief Nguyen rally that cut the gap, and closed it out 21-16. Nguyen opened the second game 3-0 before Tanvi rebuilt control through patient rallies and deceptive drives, building leads of 15-10 and 18-12 and converting her seventh championship point. After the match, Tanvi placed her gold medal around the neck of coach Park Tae-sang before posing for photographs together.
Path to the title and family backstory
Tanvi had already reached her first BWF Super 300 final at the 2025 US Open at age 16, and was runner-up at the Odisha Masters Super 100 and Guwahati Masters Super 100. She is a former World Junior No. 1, the first Indian to win two medals at a single BWF World Junior Championships (silver in girls' singles, bronze in mixed team), and a member of the Indian squad that won the country's first Asian Team Championships gold. Her mother, Meena Sharma, a physical-education teacher and former national-level volleyball player, learned badminton to coach Tanvi in Hoshiarpur before the teenager moved to the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati to train under Park.
Korea Masters Super 300: Tanvi leads India's squad
Fresh off the Taipei title, Tanvi will lead India's challenge at the Korea Masters Super 300, a USD 250,000 event starting Tuesday, opening her campaign against a qualifier. She became the fourth Indian woman to win a BWF Super 300 or higher-level title, joining Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Devika Sihag. India has six men and 10 women in the main draws.
In men's singles, third-seeded Kidambi Srikanth, the 2021 World Championships silver medallist and former world No. 1, returns to full fitness after withdrawing from the Canada Open because of a fitness issue following his US Open runner-up finish; he opens against Israel's Daniil Dubovenko. Kiran George meets a qualifier and could face eighth seed Wang Po-Wei of Chinese Taipei next, Saneeth Dayanand takes top seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan, Rounak Chouhan faces fourth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin of South Korea, Tharun Mannepalli plays Yoo Tae Bin, and Mithun Manjunath meets Zhu Xuan Chen of China, with a potential Srikanth-Mithun all-Indian second round.
In women's singles, seventh seed Malvika Bansod opens against a qualifier, Tanya Hemanth faces top seed Hina Akechi of Japan, Aakarshi Kashyap meets Kim Min Ji of South Korea, Shriyanshi Valishetty plays Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj and Ashmita Chaliha drew qualifiers, eighth seed Anmol Kharb takes Lo Sin Yan Happy of Hong Kong, Mansi Singh meets Kim Joo Eun, and fifth seed Isharani Baruah's opponent was not specified in the available reporting.
What to watch next
The Korea Masters Super 300 main draw begins Tuesday, with Tanvi Sharma's first-round match against a qualifier and Kidambi Srikanth's return from injury against Daniil Dubovenko the headline Indian storylines to track.
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