Tanvi falters at final hurdle, Rithvik grabs maiden World Tour crown

India's young badminton star Tanvi Sharma gave her best but it wasn't enough as she lost in her maiden BWF World Tour final at Odisha Masters in Cuttack on Sunday.

The 15-year-old, who has been making the headlines throughout the year, went down in straight games to China's Cai Yan Yan in the women's singles final that lasted just 35 minutes. Cai, who came into the tournament on the back of winning the title at Guwahati Masters, won 21-14, 21-16.

Despite the loss, Tanvi should be proud of the way she has improved by leaps and bounds throughout the year. Not only did she win the Bonn International title but she was also part of India's women's squad for Thomas and Uber Cup in Chengdu and led the Indian team at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles event Tamil Nadu's Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar beat Tharun Mannepalli 21-18, 21-16 to grab his maiden BWF World Tour title. The 21-year-old, who won the Telangana International Challenge last month and finished as runner-up at Sri Lanka International Challenge earlier this year, swept past Tharun in just 43 minutes.

Odisha has been a happy hunting ground for Rithvik, who had also won a gold medal at the Sub-junior National Championship in Bhubaneswar in 2019.

As far as the doubles events are concerned, none from India had qualified for the finals and teams from China dominated the proceedings.

In mixed doubles, the Chinese pair of Gao Jia Xuan and Tang Rui Zhi beat Singapore's Hee Yong Kai Terry and Jin Yu Jia 15-21, 21-15, 21-15 to grab gold. In men's doubles, too, China's Huang Di and Liu Yang finished on top of the podium after their 21-13, 19-21, 27-25 victory over Japan's Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi.

However, in women's doubles, the Chinese pair of Keng Shu Liang and Wang Ting Ge was beaten by Japan's Nanako Hara and Riko Kiyose 21-11, 21-19.