Youth Olympics 2026: Tanvi Patri becomes India's first-ever woman medallist in badminton

She is also only the fourth Indian to win a medal in badminton

Fifteen-year-old Tanvi Patri became the first Indian women singles badminton player to clinch a Youth Olympics silver medal after she went down against reigning world junior champion Zhang Yi Xin in a nail-biting summit clash in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday.

Tanvi saved six match points and missed three of her own to go down 21-15, 13-21, 24-26 in an hour and 22 minutes in a gold medal clash that kept everyone watching live action on the edge of their seats.

Before Tanvi, HS Prannoy (2010) and Lakshya Sen (2018) had won individual silver medals in the Youth Olympic Games. Sen had also bagged the mixed team gold with Team Alpha, that included shuttlers from eight different countries.

Applauding Tanvi’s dream run in the Dakar Youth Olympics, Badminton Association of India General Secretary said, “Tanvi Patri has made the entire nation proud with a historic achievement at the Youth Olympic Games. Winning a silver medal at just 15 is an extraordinary accomplishment and a moment of immense pride for India.

“Her fighting spirit, composure and performances throughout the competition reflect the immense potential of our young sporting generation. This achievement is a significant milestone for Indian sport and a testament to the growing presence of our athletes on the global stage.

“On behalf of the Badminton Association of India and its member colleagues, I congratulate Tanvi and everyone who has supported her journey,” he added.

In the gold medal match on Thursday, Tanvi took her time to get going in the opening game before she claimed seven straight points to go from 3-5 to 10-5. The Indian created many openings with her punch tosses and controlled the net brilliantly to then bag the opening game in 25 minutes.

She began the second game by taking a 4-0 lead before the drift coming from behind her started to affect Tanvi’s control on the clears and Zhang took control of the game after the mid game interval to force a decider.

Zhang then took control of the decider early with her trademark cross court drops to open up a 19-10 lead. Tanvi fought back to close the gap to four points at 19-15 but an error on a cross court smash from the Indian handed her opponent five match points.

Tanvi saved those five match points and had three chances of wrapping the gold medal. But it was the experience of Zhang that ultimately made the difference.

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