Taipei City: Indian teenager Tanvi Sharma won her maiden BWF World Tour title after defeating Vietnam's sixth seed Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-16, 21-16 in the women's singles final of the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Sunday.
The 17-year-old from Punjab, who finished runner-up at the 2025 US Open Super 300, needed just 36 minutes to outclass Nguyen in the title clash.
Coached by Park Tae-sang, the former coach of Indian badminton player PV Sindhu, Tanvi also became the first Indian to win the women's singles title at the Taipei Open since Saina Nehwal, who lifted the trophy in 2008.
Tanvi made a flying start, repeatedly catching Nguyen at the net with deft drop shots disguised as smashes to race to a 4-1 lead. The Vietnamese player struggled to read the Indian's deception and also found it difficult to judge the drift, going wide twice as Tanvi mixed steep cross-court smashes with her trademark touch to surge to a 10-2 advantage.
The Indian then slipped into a spell of unforced errors, struggling to keep the shuttle inside the lines. She eventually produced a timely smash to carry a three-point lead into the mid-game interval, with coach Park urging her to relax.
Tanvi regained her rhythm after the break, producing powerful smashes from both flanks to move 15-9 ahead. Although she conceded a few points through errors at the net and from the back court, she quickly regained control, earning five game points before sealing the opening game with a cross-court smash.
After the change of ends, Nguyen opened a 3-0 lead by forcing Tanvi to cover the court with sharp angles. The Indian gradually took control of the rallies, drawing level at 3-3 with a fine net shot before once again pushing her opponent deep and catching her at the net with delicate touches.
Nguyen's inconsistency also helped Tanvi build an 8-4 lead before another patch of errors allowed the Vietnamese player to reduce the deficit to 7-8, prompting Park to react in frustration. Two exquisite deceptive winners helped Tanvi take an 11-8 lead into the interval.
The Indian gradually stretched her advantage to 15-10 and then 18-12, with her deceptive play once again proving decisive. At 19-12, Tanvi unsuccessfully challenged a line call after being ruled late but soon earned seven match points with a powerful smash. A nervous finish saw her miss three match points before she finally converted the fourth to seal her maiden BWF World Tour title.
In a heartwarming moment after the match, Tanvi removed her gold medal and placed it around coach Park Tae-sang's neck before the pair posed together for photographs.
At 17 years and 222 days, Tanvi became the youngest finalist in the tournament's history, surpassing South Korean doubles great Lee Yong Dae, who was 17 years and 287 days old when he reached the men's doubles final in 2006.
Tanvi had earlier become the first Indian to win two medals at a single edition of the BWF World Junior Championships, claiming silver in girls' singles and bronze in the mixed team event. She was also part of the Indian team that won the country's maiden gold medal at the Asian Team Championships.
A former world junior No. 1, Tanvi reached her maiden Super 300 final at the 2025 US Open at the age of 16. She also finished runner-up at the Odisha Masters Super 100 and the Guwahati Masters Super 100.