Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)

Tanvi Patri

Even as the star of former badminton world champion P.V. Sindhu is dimming, another star is rising in Bengaluru’s world-class Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA). Early teen Tanvi Patri is earning encomiums in the international and national badminton circuits. In late August, 13-year-old Tanvi recorded a stunning victory over Vietnam #2 Hi Thu Huyen Nguyen in a 34-minute final to clinch the girls’ singles U-15 title of the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships staged in Chengdu (China).

Winning championship titles and media headlines is becoming a habit for this young teen. In June, Tanvi bagged a double crown — U-15 and U-17 singles titles — in the Yonex-Sunrise All India Sub-Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament staged in Hyderabad, and earlier another double in May at the All India Sub-Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament in Mapusa, Goa.

The only child of software engineers Rabinarayan and Sailabala Patri, Tanvi attributes her success to sustained family support and high-quality coaching. “Encouraged by my parents, my initial training in Chinese-style badminton followed by competing against veteran players at PPBA has given me valuable experience,” says Tanvi, a class VIII student of ODM Global School, Bhubaneswar.

Introduced to the game in Taicang (China) — where her parents worked at the time — at age five (2016), she started playing in a beginners’ camp under coach Jiang Yong Yi. In quick succession she won nine singles titles (U-8, U-9 U-10 and U-11) in tournaments across China from 2017-2020. In 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, she was spotted in a talent hunt and invited to join the PPBA promoted by the eponymous former India and All England champion Prakash Padukone. Since then, she has trained under its director and chief coach Vimal Kumar.

“Tanvi reminds me of P.V. Sindhu in her younger days. The ability to win matches at a young age is a sign of high potential. She will go a long way given her cool temperament,” says Vimal Kumar.

Tanvi is currently preparing intensively for the 2025 Asia U-17 Badminton Junior Championships, and the forthcoming Nationals U-17, U-19 championships. “All this is preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” she says with quiet determination.

God speed!