Tanvi Sharma tends to falter at Guwahati, and bounces back doubly stronger – as was seen after her Nationals title loss due to injury. Another finals defeat – this time in the World Juniors – threw up the need to level up on another kind of fitness: the sorts where as you go deeper into the week and land in the finals, you can actually unleash your best badminton. Playing Anyapat Phichitpreechasak, Tanvi once again found out the hard way that all the efforts of a week can come undone if your endurance reserves are at the bottom of the barrel.
The rough lesson cost her the Juniors title, as she lost 15-7, 15-12, and Saina Nehwal remains India’s only Junior world champion.
One crucial element of that October 2008 title run for Nehwal in Pune was what she did the day after her loss at the Beijing Olympics in the quarterfinals. She hit the gym and vowed to never run out of stamina in a big March, though shoring up endurance to optimum took her some more time. Tanvi and her coaching team, who are aware of the diminishing energy reserves as the week wears on, will need to take that next step to avoid these finals heartbreaks. At the US Open earlier this summer too, Tanvi had strung together great results but got overpowered in the final.
Against Phichitpreechasak, Tanvi simply ran out of juice to hammer her smashes. Tired arms from the week and especially the semifinals, meant Tanvi just couldn’t summon the bite in her kills. Most returns – ambitious overhead drops and stick smashes that can drain you of power – ended up limp against the net, as the exhaustion showed straight away.
Coach Park had spoken about how endurance wasn’t Tanvi’s greatest ally, yet. And she had forsaken training to rest ahead of semis. But finals-specific recovery is a highly sophisticated process, that goes beyond ice baths. And the whole might of science will need to kick in, as she turns to seniors circuit full-time now.
Indications are the whole dozen strong batch at National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati have been invited to continue there for two more years. And Tanvi can look back at the last 48 hours to determine what was missing in the finals, even if she did extraordinarily well to make finals.
Phichitpreechasak is a talented Thai with oodles of deceptive repertoire of her own, and she used her efficiency of court movement and a very basic gameplan once she figured Tanvi was totally off rhythm, with her strokes not clearing the net.
Story continues below this ad
The first set from the seemingly tougher side saw Tanvi lag behind from 4-4 onwards, though a bigger giveaway was her body language – mildly irritated that the strokes were not following her command. Sub-par physical fitness always messes with mental strength (the corollary is as true, Saina always believed she was mentally sturdy when physically stronger). And Tanvi seemed to be aware that the windmill arms that could nuance the drops and vary the smashes, were slightly creaking from exhaustion.
The overhead deception game operates on fine margins, and needs accuracy and a mind that’s fresh, and even the likes of Tai Tzu-ying took their time to get stronger, before the magic was unfurled. With her strokes lacking the punch from the shoulder, Tanvi was bound to fall behind and the first set disappeared quickly. Phichitpreechasak has some delectable backhand drops and it was common for her to leave Tanvi stranded at back corners, and float the shuttle to front court. At 5-10, Tanvi’s almighty cross court went wide, and the tiredness was apparent. Phichitpreechasak stayed simply consistent and took the set lead easily.
In the second, Tanvi came all guns blazing, but it was that desperate flare that lights up before extinguishing. Her twisting drops gave gera 5-1 lead, but she always looked a long rally away from falling apart. She had her chances in long rallies in fact – even won two of the following ones, after Phichitpreechasak levelled at 8-8. But the tired smashes that went wild and long only increased her frustration.
Tanvi lost points in a clump – from leading 8-5 to trailing 8-12. And her last fight brought her up to 12-14, but she was in trouble when she got wrong footed amd stumbled – and the Thai coach even hinted to Phichitpreechasak that the Indian’s ankle might be in a spot of bother. In the end, her finals challenge came apart, though the way ahead is evident – she needs to grow her endurance and that might take a couple of seasons.
Story continues below this ad
But what Tanvi really achieved at Guwahati is bring India’s women’s singles back on track. The other three talents – Unnati Hooda, Rakshitha Ramraj and Vennala Kalagotla (though she has to decide on doubles), remain promising, and Tanvi’s run to finals sets up a nice internal competition as they transition to seniors. There’s also Anmol Kharb in Europe and Shriyanshi Valishetty and Devika Sihag, scattered across the country that raise hopes for the future.
Tanvi has everything in her game and strokes that can be built upon into a fine game. But tournament endurance – something that Saina and Sindhu built towards when coming up – and recovery, will be two things that will determine if this Wotld Junior silver converts into big gains in seniors.
