Dakar, Nov 5: Fifteen-year-old Indian shuttler Tanvi Patri became the first Indian woman to reach a badminton final at the Youth Olympic Games, defeating Japan's second seed Yuzuno Watanabe in a three-game semi-final at the Dakar 2026 Games on Wednesday, MyKhel reported. Patri prevailed 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in a contest that lasted 54 minutes.

Source: MyKhel

The result guarantees India its first-ever women's singles badminton medal at the Youth Olympic Games, The Bridge reported. Patri, who is from Odisha and had already made news with her quarter-final run at these Games, is now assured of at least a silver medal and will play for gold in the final.

Source: The Bridge

In famous company

Before Patri, India's Youth Olympic badminton medals came from the men's singles: HS Prannoy won silver at the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010 and Lakshya Sen took silver in Buenos Aires in 2018, while Aditya Joshi reached the boys' singles semi-finals in 2014, MyKhel and The Bridge reported. Patri is the first Indian woman to go beyond the semi-final stage.

In the gold-medal match, Patri will face China's Yi Xin Zhang, the reigning World Junior Championships gold medallist, MyKhel and The Bridge reported. A win would make her India's first Youth Olympic badminton champion. Sources: MyKhel (November 5, 2026) and The Bridge (November 5, 2026), with Badminton Association of India information reported by ANI/The News Mill.