Tanvi Sharma, 16, became the youngest Indian shuttler to reach the final of a BWF World Tour event at the US Open Super 300 on Saturday night in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Tanvi made light work of seventh-seeded Polina Buhrova of Ukraine in the semifinals, beating her in straight games (21-14, 21-16) in 34 minutes to seal her place in the final. With this achievement, she also became the first Indian shuttler to reach a BWF World Tour event final in 2025. Tanvi will face top seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA in the final. Zhang, 34, defeated Line Christophersen in the other semifinal 18-21, 21-16, 21-15.

The Indian youngster, who trains at the Badminton Association of India's (BAI) National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, is ranked 66th in the world. Displaying her bright potential for transitioning to the senior level, the junior world No. 2 in women’s singles has also beaten higher-ranked players - World No. 23 Thuy Linh Nguyen, No. 58 Pitchamon Opatniputh, and No. 50 Karupathevan Letshanaa - en route to the final.

With no coaches by her side, fellow Indian shuttler and semifinalist Ayush Shetty stepped in and sat on the coach's chair. Tanvi - who was part of India’s Badminton Asia Team Championships squad in 2024 - unleashed a wide variety of strokes to dazzle her older opponent, who often wilted and looked helpless as Tanvi’s raging shots pierced through her defence.

Using high serves and swift court coverage to gain control at the net, Tanvi did the trick by keeping the shuttle short, not allowing Buhrova to go for smashes and lifts. Although the Ukrainian shuttler won five straight points in the second game to level the score at 16-16, Tanvi showed her ability to hold her nerve. She won the next five points to seal the contest.

Often compared to PV Sindhu for her ability to unleash whirlwind attacks and test opponents at the net, Tanvi exudes bustling power while playing smashes identical to Sindhu’s. Her straight-game wins throughout the tournament also demonstrated her ability to dictate the pace and assert herself as a dominant player.

Tanvi is now on the cusp of history. A title at the US Open will make her the youngest Indian to win a BWF World Tour title. While the record for the youngest Indian to win a BWF event belongs to Unnati Hooda, who won the Odisha Open Super 100 in 2022 at the age of 14, the event is not part of the BWF World Tour event. Hence, Tanvi stands a chance to set that record for India. Saina Nehwal's Asian Satellite tournament in 2005 at the age of 15. Again this was not part of the Tour event.

Ayush Shetty, meanwhile, reached his first final on the BWF World Tour after a third-place finish at the Orleans Masters earlier this year. Shetty pulled off a massive upset in the semifinal as he defeated World No. 9 Chou Tien Chen, the Indonesia Open Super 1000 runner-up.

After a rigorous opening game, which Shetty lost 21-23, he brought out his best and took down the World Championships bronze medallist in 67 minutes. The final score was 21-23, 21-15, 21-14. Ayush will face Brian Yang of Canada in the final on Sunday night, hoping to end India’s men’s singles title drought in 2025.