Surya Charishma (L) got the better of 14-year-old Tanvi Patri 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 in the women’s singles final at the nationals. (PHOTO: BAI)
The 2025 Senior National Badminton Championships in Vijayawada will be remembered for something special, when it comes to women’s singles. It got India’s superstar PV Sindhu posting on X excitedly about what was unfolding. Before the third game between Surya Charishma Tamiri and Tanvi Patri, the ace shuttler wrote: “Eyes absolutely glued to the women’s final right now.” She also noted how Tanvi might be carrying a niggle while Cherry – the nickname for Surya that was chanted in loud voice – was playing with great composure. “My heart is with Cherry, the girl from my state. Chances like this are rare for her and she’s grabbing it with both hands. Tanvi will have many more of these moments, but watching both of them push each other like this on a big stage is so special,” Sindhu added.
Eventually, it was Surya who prevailed in three games against the 14-year-old prodigy 17-21, 21-12, 21-14. While the 19-year-old Vijayawada-born shuttler walked away with the title, Tanvi can hold her head high, having earlier earned rich praise from Sindhu after a stellar run. In a piece of text that Tanvi could well frame and use as motivation for the rest of her promising career, Sindhu had remarked on semifinals day: “Are we watching a future face of Indian badminton rise right in front of us? She trains next to me in Bangalore and I’ve always loved her game. Maybe because I see a little bit of myself in her. The way she plays with heart and with that smile.”
In the men’s singles, Rithvik Sanjeevi S defeated Bharat Raghav to win the singles title 21-16, 22-20 and cap off a fine week during which he dropped just one game, against top seed Kiran George in an epic semifinal. Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K clinched women’s doubles after beating second seeds Priya Devi Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra 21-14, 21-18 while top seeds Hariharan Amsakarunan and R Ruban Kumar defeated Mithileish P Krishnan and Prejan 21-17, 21-12 to win the men’s doubles final. In mixed doubles, Sathwik Reddy K and Radhika Sharma upset top seeds Ashith Surya and Amrutha P 21-9, 21-15.
The highly anticipated women’s singles final, where Tanvi was looking to become the youngest ever national champion as per BAI’s records, was the only match to go the distance. Tanvi took control of the match at the midway stage of the opening game and it looked like she had frustrated her opponent enough to induce unforced errors.
One such error happened at 6-5 in the second game as Surya swatted a service return into the net. But the service judge had called it a fault for height and that gave the eventual champion a reprieve. She then went on to win seven consecutive points to take control of the second game.
In the decider, Surya engaged Tanvi in long rallies at the start and the tiredness began to show on the youngster. Though Tanvi tried to keep pace with her opponent, she ran out of steam as Surya Charishma wrapped up the match with six straight points from 15-14 onwards.
In the men’s singles final, Rithvik relied on his superior defence and composure to overcome the challenge of Bharat Raghav. Having pocketed the opening game without any hiccups, Rithvik was under pressure in the second game as his opponent opened up a 9-5 lead. He bagged six consecutive points to regain the lead and it felt like he would cruise to victory before two bad judgment calls allowed Bharat to fight back and even earn a game point. But to his credit, Rithvik kept his cool and stuck to his game plan and wrapped up the match in 39 minutes.