Tanvi Patri becomes first Indian to reach Youth Olympic women's singles final in Dakar

Tanvi Patri became the first Indian badminton player to reach the women's singles final at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal on November 5, 2026, advancing past Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semifinal.

The 15-year-old from Odisha had earlier created history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the Youth Olympic semifinals when she defeated Thailand's Kungkaew Kakanik. Her progression to the title match comes after a run of victories that put her one win away from a Youth Olympic gold.

Patri's semifinal against Watanabe lasted 54 minutes and was decided in three games, with the Indian prevailing 21-14, 11-21, 21-19. The contest saw Patri take the opening game, Watanabe respond strongly in the second, and a tightly contested deciding game in which Patri closed out the match.

Patri will face China's Yi Xin Zhang in the final; Zhang is the reigning World Junior Championships champion. The two have met once before, in the quarterfinals of the Asia Junior Championships earlier this year, where Patri lost 18-21, 16-21.

Patri's appearance in the final places her among a small group of Indians who have reached podium contention at the Youth Olympics: HS Prannoy won silver in Singapore in 2010, Lakshya Sen finished runner-up in Buenos Aires in 2018, and Aditya Joshi reached the men's singles semifinals in 2014.

Patri now has the opportunity to convert this breakthrough into a gold medal when she meets Yi Xin Zhang in the Youth Olympic women's singles final.