India’s Young Shuttlers Sparkle: Tanvi Sharma Sets the Pace at Asia Juniors 2025

India’s youthful badminton stars are going strong in Indonesia — the girls are leading the charge and lighting up the competition. At the Badminton Asia Junior Individual Championships 2025 being held in Surakarta, Indonesia, two of India’s female up-and-coming stars, Tanvi Sharma and Vennala Kalagotla, have powered to their respective women’s singles quarter-finals showing tenacity, capability and an insoluble drive.

Seventeen-year-old Tanvi Sharma, the second seed in the tournament and a recent finalist at the prestigious US Open BWF World Tour event, was in top form. She first outplayed China’s Shi Si Chen in straight sets (21-19, 21-14) and followed it up with another confident win over Thailand’s Phannachet Passa-Orn (21-14, 21-15), cruising into the top eight. With poise beyond her years, Tanvi continues to prove she’s a force to watch on the global stage.

At the same time, Vennala Kalagotla delivered two consecutive victories to keep hopes alive for India. She had a convincing win over Malaysia’s Ler Qi Eng (21-12, 22-20), and then battled hard against Chinese Taipei’s Wen Shu-yu, where she was able to maintain control of the match to edge out a victory, 21-18, 21-19. Her resilience and consistency reflect the strength of India’s next generation of female champions.

In women’s doubles, Vennala paired up with Reshika U to secure a strong 21-7, 21-16 win over Hong Kong China’s Au-Yeung Wing Chi and Yi Kiu Yu, before falling to eighth seeds from Chinese Taipei in the next round.

While India’s men had mixed fortunes — with the top-seeded doubles duo Bhargav Ram and Viswa Tej bowing out in the round of 16, and singles players Rounak Chouhan and Ansh Negi exiting in pre-quarters — the spirit of Indian badminton remained undeterred.

Other Indian participants, including Pranauv Ram Nagalingam, Himar Lalthazuala, Tanvi Reddy Andluri and mixed doubles pair Vishnu Kedhar Kode and Keerthy Manchala, all did well in the competition, but were unable to secure spots further in the tournament.

As the tournament draws to an end all focus will turn to Tanvi and Vennala, whose audacious performances aren’t just scoring them points – they are signalling the start of another era for women in Indian sport.

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