Tanvi Sharma enters quarterfinals after shocking former world champion Okuhara

Tanvi Sharma, 16, stunned former World No 1 Nozomi Okuhara in a thrilling three-game battle at the Syed Modi International 2025. The World Juniors silver medallist rallied to win 13-21, 21-16, 21-19, advancing to the quarterfinals

Hyderabad: The 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma lit up the third day of the Syed Modi International 2025 with a career-defining victory, shocking former World No 1, former World Champion and Olympic medallist Nozomi Okuhara in a gripping three-game battle in Lucknow on Thursday.

The World Juniors silver medallist showed remarkable grit, rallying from a game down to claim a memorable 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 win in just under an hour — the biggest result of her young career, sealing her place in the quarterfinals.

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The upsets did not stop there. Isharani Baruah produced another strong performance, taking out eighth seed Polina Buhrova of Ukraine 21-15, 21-8. Top seed Unnati Hooda moved through comfortably with a 21-15, 21-10 win over Tasnim Mir, while Rakshitha Sree battled past Devika Sihag 16-21, 21-19, 21-17.

In men’s singles, the third day brought more surprises as Manraj Singh defeated third seed HS Prannoy 21-15, 21-18. Mithun Manjunath edged past sixth seed Tharun Mannepalli in a 21-16, 17-21, 21-7 contest, while former champion Kidambi Srikanth cruised past Saneeth Dayanand 21-6, 21-16.

Top-seeded women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand continued their solid run, winning 21-17, 21-12 against Zenith Abbigail and Likhita Srivastava. Jolly also teamed up with Hariharan Amsakarunan to knock out second seeds Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde 24-22, 21-15 in mixed doubles. In men’s doubles, Hariharan and MR Arjun secured a quarterfinal spot with a confident 21-12, 21-18 win over Malaysia’s Lau Yi Sheng and Lim Tze Jian.