BWF World Jr Championships: Young Indian Stars Upset Higher Seeds in Thrilling Battles

Gnana Dattu, playing in his first world juniors, defeated 8th seed Garret Tan of USA 15-12, 15-13 in boys' singles, while Bhavya and Vishakha fought back after losing the opening game to beat third seeded French combination of Thibault Gardon and Agathe Cuevas 12-15, 15-11, 15-12 to reach the quarterfinals.

In boys' doubles, sixth seeds Bhargav and Viswa kept their nerves after losing the opening game to get the better of Yi Hsuan Chen and Chun-Yen Chu of Chinese Taipei 13-15, 15-9, 15-13 in 42 minutes to set up a quarter-final clash against Asian Junior champions Chen Jun Ting and Liu Jun Rong.

Girls' singles top seed Tanvi dominated China's Sun Li Yuan for a 15-8, 15-5 win while eighth seed Unnati recovered from a bad start to beat Carine Tee of Malaysia 15-10, 15-7. In the quarterfinals, Tanvi will face Japan's Saki Matsumoto while Unnati will take on second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand.

While Tanvi and Unnati lived up to the expectations, Gnana Dattu and the pairing of Bhavya and Vishakha punched above their weight to get within striking distance of a possible medal.

Playing against an experienced opponent, Gnana Dattu showcased his racquet skills as he executed late flicks and flat pushes, particularly under pressure, to outplay Tan.

In both games, Dattu and Tan focused on not making any errors in the earlier exchanges and it was the Indian who managed to grab the initiative from 8-8. Having understood the conditions and his opponent's game plan, the 17-year-old created opportunities with delectable slow drops and sharp dribbles to gain a comfortable advantage and then kept his nerves to close out the match.

In the second game, Tan managed to save three match points from 10-14 down as Dattu suddenly tried to avoid mistakes but the Indian managed to hold his nerves on the fourth point to seal his quarterfinal spot.

"Though he has more experience than me because he has played a few senior tournaments, I was confident that I can beat him if I can play at my best and I am happy that I could do that today," *said Gnana Dattu,* who is playing in his first World Junior Championships.

He will now face Asian Junior Championships silver medallist Liu Yang Ming Yu, who defeated Chinese Taipei's Chen Yu Cheng 15-6, 8-15, 15-10.

On the adjacent court, Bhavya and Toppo perfectly executed the game plan from the better side of the court to upset the third seeds from France. Having lost the opening game rather easily, the Indian combination roared back in the second, adopting an aggressive approach. The decider was a battle of nerves as the third seeds changed ends at 8-6 and then looked comfortably placed at 11-8. This is when the Indians decided to change tactics and not let their opponents attack. This meant that Bhavya got opportunities to find the winners as the Indian combination won six straight points to turn the tables.

"While trailing at 8-11, the coach told us to attack more and play soft at the net to ensure that we get to attack more. We simply listened to the coach as it was easier to attack from this side," *said Bhavya* after the match.Bhavya and Vishakha will now face Chinese Taipei's Hung Bing Fu and Chou Yun An, who defeated Korea's Kim Tae Hyun and Moon In Seo 15-9, 15-11 in the other pre-quarterfinals.

- IANS