RISING STAR TANVI INCHES CLOSER TO PROMISED LAND

No 1 seed beats Saki Matsumoto to reach last-four stage of Jr Worlds to assure herself at least a bronze; all other Indians lose to miss out on medals

- ANMOL GURUNG Guwahati

AARAM sey, Aaram sey; Chalo, Chalo (Take it easy, take it easy; Let's go, let's go). South Korean coach Park Tae-sang was voicing whatever little hindi words he has learnt in a bid to help his ward Tanvi Sharma get out of a storm.

India were in contention for five medals at the start of Friday. By the time singles specialist Tanvi entered the court, that number had been reduced to three. Given the match-ups, the teenager from Hoshiarpur was the country's best bet.

The hefty weight of expectations was the shoulders of the 16-year-old. The pressure was sky-high, as the No 1 seed would later reveal.

The crowd was fairly vocal as they egged her on during her high-stakes clash against Saki Matsumoto of Japan at the BWF World Junior Championships here at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, a centre where has been polishing the craft for a year or so.