Tanvi: crafted in China, honed in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Earlier this month, top badminton coach U Vimal Kumar appeared despondent after his ward Lakshya Sen bungled two great opportunities to win a medal at the Paris Olympics. Such was Sen’s shocking slip-ups, his mentor Prakash Padukone went on a rare public rebuke.

A few weeks later, both Vimal and Padukone have a lot to cheer after another of their ward, the prodigious Tanvi Patri, made them proud by winning the U-15 title at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships in Chengdu, China on Sunday.

The 13-year-old, who has been training at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy for the last two years, defeated Vietnam's second seed Thi Thu Huyen Nguyen 22-20, 21-11, a performance that showed the immense potential she possesses.

“What I like about her is her temperament and tenacity,” a delighted Vimal told DH. “For a kid so young, she has a phenomenal winning mentality. Even during training sessions when she spars with players way above her age, she doesn’t like to lose. The Asian title is just the start for her.”

Born in Bengaluru in April 2011, Tanvi learnt how to hold a racquet as a six-year-old at an academy in Taicang, a city on the outskirts of Shanghai. Her father Rabinarayan, a software professional working for Cognizant, had been posted there for a Nike project and the kid, seeing him play, too wanted to try her hand.

Rabinarayan wasted little time in enrolling his daughter at an academy where she received state-of-the-art pre-badminton lessons. Tanvi picked up the lessons at a rapid pace when the local coaches suggested Rabinarayan that his daughter needed an upgrade.

Rabinarayan then got Tanvi to train under top coach Jiang Yong Yi in the same Jiansu province, a decision that bore exceptional dividends. Tanvi competed in several tournaments between 2017 and 2020 and managed to win nine in an ultra-competitive circuit.

“Everyone knows how good the Chinese are in badminton and table tennis but when Tanvi beat them, some of the coaches too were surprised to see the talent she possessed,” said Rabinarayan.

“It’s a blessing that she learnt badminton in China because they taught the fundamentals exceptionally well and that’s ingrained deeply in Tanvi. Like how specialised coaching is at the senior level in India, even coaching for kids as young as five is specialised in China. Plus there’s emphasis on individual attention.”

Just as Tanvi was progressing superbly, disaster struck in the form of the Covid pandemic. With the country being the epicentre of the virus, Rabinarayan decided to move Tanvi and his wife Sailabala Panda, also a software professional who now works for Infosys, back to his hometown Bhubaneswar in February 2020.

Rabinarayan enrolled Tanvi at the popular Udaan Badminton Academy but he knew his daughter needed a better place to grow. So after he returned from China for good in April 2021, he sent videos of her daughter to PPBA when they summoned her for trials in 2022.

“Moment I saw her in the trials, I knew she was something special. We get a lot of kids but only a few of them, like Lakshya for example, are special and she is one of them. Over the last couple of years, she has been competing in higher age categories tournaments and winning titles as well.

“She made the cut to be a part of the Indian team for the U-19 World Junior Championships. But BWF rules state that a player has to be a minimum 14 years of age to compete in that, so Tanvi couldn’t make it for no fault of hers. I see (PV) Sindhu and Saina (Nehwal) in her because they too were winning tournaments at higher age categories.”

Vimal, however, said it’s just the start and Tanvi has to put in a lot of work if she wants to keep excelling.

“Her parents are small built in nature so we really need to work on improving her core strength. She’s blessed with good natural endurance but strength is something we need to work considering this is the age when her muscles develop. Work done now has lasting effects.

“She needs to work on her net play too but as she grows in height that will come automatically. She’s an extremely focussed kid. If she continues to work hard and if we too put in our work on her, she really could be the next big thing. She’s an uncut gem which has to be polished with care.”