‘Just wanted to play well, didn’t expect the final’: India’s Tanvi Sharma reflects on US Open journey

IOWA: Indian shuttler Tanvi Sharma said she “didn’t expect to play in the finals” after finishing as the runner-up in the US Open 2025 badminton tournament held in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In the women’s singles category, 16-year-old Tanvi surprised everyone with a strong performance throughout the tournament. She defeated players ranked World No. 23, 40, 50, and 58 to reach the final, according to a release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Although she lost to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA in a hard-fought match (21-11, 16-21, 21-10), Tanvi made history by becoming the youngest Indian to reach a BWF World Tour final.

Get to Know: Tanvi Sharma

This #TeenTitan is making big waves at just 16, turning heads everywhere she goes with her fierce and fearless talent. Tanvi plays with a grit well beyond her years, a maturity she displayed in her back-to-back straight games stunners against two… pic.twitter.com/v5LLOjSJgW

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) June 27, 2025

Speaking about her performance, Tanvi said, “It was a good tournament for me. I didn’t expect to play in the finals. Because my starting round was 32, the first round itself was a tough match. I just expected to give my best. Whatever I was doing, I wanted to play well. I managed to win.”

She also talked about her earlier matches, where she beat Vietnam’s T.L. Nguyen (21-19, 21-9) in the Round of 32, Thailand’s Opatniputh Pitchamon (21-18, 21-16) in the Round of 16, and Malaysia’s L. Karupathevan (21-13, 21-16) in the quarterfinals.

“First round with the Vietnam girl. She was very experienced. In the second round, I played with Opatniputh Pitchamon. She was a former world junior champion. She was also very experienced. I managed to win. In the quarterfinals, I played with a Malaysian girl. She was also very good. I played my best and I won,” she said.

Tanvi said her toughest matches were the first two rounds. “I think the toughest match was the first (Round of 32) and second round (Round of 16). I thought both were tough because both were top-class players. I got a good experience by playing here. I just want to gain this experience. I want to play like this in the next tournaments,” she added.

Looking ahead, Tanvi said she is preparing for the Asian Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships, both of which will be held in India. She also hopes to take part in higher-level tournaments in the future.

“I am playing the Asian Junior Championships next month. After that, there is the World Junior Championships. Both of these tournaments are in India. I will try to do well in that. I want to play well in the Super 300 and 500,” she concluded. (ANI)