Indian shuttler Tanvi Sharma entered the final of the World Junior Championships 2025 at Guwahati on Saturday, defeating Liu Si Ya 15-11, 15-9 in the semi-finals. The 16-year-old will take on Thailand shuttler and the second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak in the final on Sunday.
The Hoshiarpur-born Sharma has joined a select group of Indian shuttlers to have won a medal at the World Junior Championships and will be eyeing the gold in the summit clash.
The medal on Sunday will continue an impressive run for Sharma, who won the bronze at the 2025 Badminton Asia Junior Championships and entered the final of the 2025 US Open Super 300 tournament.
Here’s the full list of Indian medal winners at the World Junior Championships:
Aparna Popat (1996)
Two years before she won a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Aparna Popat created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler ever to win a medal at the World Junior Championships. Popat won the silver medal in the Girls Singles category of the tournament held in Silkeborg, Denmark, losing to China’s Yu Hua 7-11, 3-11 in the final.
Saina Nehwal (2006)
The year 2006 would prove to be a groundbreaking 12 months for Saina Nehwal. In May, she would become the first Indian shuttler to win a four-star tournament. A few months later, in November, the 16-year-old ended a decade-long drought for a World Junior Championships medal, clinching a silver medal in Incheon, South Korea, losing 13-21, 9-21 to China’s Wang Yihan in the final.
Saina Nehwal (2008)
Two years after finishing runner-up, Nehwal went one better at the World Junior Championships, becoming the first Indian shuttler to win the title. The 18-year-old defeated Japan’s Sayaka Sato 21-9, 21-18 in the Girls Singles final to create history in Pune. The title came a few months after Nehwal had become the first Indian shuttler to reach the quarter-finals at an Olympics, entering the final-eight stage in Beijing.
Siril Verma (2015)
Seven years after Nehwal’s victory, Siril Verma became the first male shuttler and the fourth overall to win a medal at the World Junior Championships.The Telangana shuttler won the silver medal in the Boys Singles category of the tournament held in Lima, Peru, losing to Lu Chia-hung 21-17, 10-21, 7-21 in the final.
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Sankar Muthusamy (2022)
Tamil Nadu shuttler Sankar Muthusamy joined Verma as the second Indian male shuttler to win a medal at a World Championships. Muthaswamy won a silver medal at the 2022 edition held in Santander, Spain, where he lost to Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Kuan-lin 14-21, 20-22 in the final.
