Tasnim clinches gold, silver for Tara at U-17 & U-15 Asia Junior C'ships

Indian shuttler Tasnim Mir clinched her maiden U-15 women's singles title at the U-17 & U-15 Asia Junior Championships after outshining compatriot Tara Shah in the finals here on Sunday. In an all-India summit clash, both the young shuttlers gave each other a tough fight before the top-seeded Tasnim claimed a 17-21 21-11 21-19 win.

With the victory, Tasnim bagged the gold medal while Tara claimed silver medal as both the girls bettered their performances from last edition where they had reached the quarter-final stage in Myanmar last year. Both the players came into the match having registered easy wins over Japanese opponents in their respective semi-finals on Saturday.

While Tasnim thrashed Sora Ishioka 21-16 21-11, Tara beat Kazune Iwato 21-18 21-14 to set up a summit clash. It was Pune girl Tara who dominated the initial stage before Tasnim made a comeback in a hard-fought match which lasted for 55 minutes.

Tara won the first set 21-17 and was looking good to cause the major upset in the tournament. However, Tasnim quickly regained the momentum and won the second set easily. And then, despite some fight-back from Tara, Tasnim went on to claim the third set as well as the match.