Tasnim Mir sails into Bulgarian Junior Open Badminton Championship final

Tasnim Mir sailed into the final of the Bulgarian Junior Open International Series Badminton Championship final in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria on Saturday.

Top seed Tasnim will clash with second seed Mariia Golubeva of Russia in the Under-19 girls’ singles final on Sunday.

Gujarat teenager Tasnim recorded two easy victories on Saturday to seal her spot in the summit clash. On the way to reaching the final, Tasnim has not lost a single game so far.

Reigning junior national champion Tasnim started the day with a quick-fire win over eighth seed Alisa Kironda. World No. 4 in the Under-19 girls singles, Tasnim needed just 28 minutes to get rid of the Russian girl with a comfortable 21-9, 21-8 victory.

Later in the day, Tasnim overcame the late challenge of fifth seed Aleksandra Chushkina of Russia with a 21-9, 21-17 win in 37 minutes.

On Friday, too, sixteen-year-old Tasnim registered a couple of wins to launch her campaign on a rousing note.

Tasnim brushed aside the challenge of Bulgaria’s Mihaela Chepisheva 21-13, 21-11 before dismissing Belgium's Caitlyn De Bree 21-8, 21-9.

Tasnim and Ayan Rashid lose in U-19 mixed doubles semis

However, Tasnim and Ayan Rashid lost in the Under-19 mixed doubles semi-finals.

Top seeds Lev Barinov and Anastasiia Boiarun of Russia edged past third seeds Ayan Rashid and Tasnim Mir 22-20, 21-10 in 28 minutes.

Tasnim Mir

Earlier in the quarter-finals Ayan Rashid and Tasnim, who trained together at the Assam Badminton Association Academy in Guwahati, thumped Sweden’s Emil Soderdahl and Elin Boman 21-17, 21-14 in 38 minutes.

In the Under-19 boys singles, fourth seed Ayan Rashid was upset by England's Nadeem Dalvi 13-21, 7-21 in 28 minutes.

Seventeen-year-old Ayan Rashid and Tasnim train under Indonesian coach Edwin Iriawan in Guwahati.

Tasnim, who had represented the Ahmedabad Smash Masters team in the Premier Badminton League, is supported by OGQ and is also part of the Central Government’s TOPS scheme.

She started playing badminton at the age of seven with father and badminton coach Irfan Ali Mir, who runs a coaching center in Mehsana, around 50 kms from Ahmedabad.