While the 17-year-old Taipei Open champion, Tanvi Sharma, was busy offering tips to the budding shuttlers at the Chandigarh Badminton Academy in Zirakpur earlier this week, elder sister Radhika Sharma was standing close to Tanvi and applauding her sister.
Radhika, who is around three years older than Tanvi, is currently at 79th position in the BWF (Badminton World Federation) world women’s doubles rankings, along with her mixed doubles partner Sathwik Reddy.
The 20-year-old Hoshiarpur shuttler won her first international title with Reddy at the Azerbaijan International tournament in Baku in February, 2026. She currently trains under former All England champion and current chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, in Hyderabad.
Radhika shared how she too draws inspiration from Tanvi.
Radhika picked up the sport at the age of seven. Tanvi was four at that time, and she would watch Radhika train under her mother. Their mother, Meena Sharma, worked as a badminton coach in Hoshiarpur.
At the age of eight, Radhika would become the district junior champion, make her way into the Indian junior teams for the World Junior Championships in Spain in 2023 and in Spokane, USA, the following year.
In 2024, Radhika also won the women’s doubles silver and mixed doubles bronze at Bonn International in Germany. Last year, she also won the mixed doubles bronze at Cameroon International Challenge.
In last year’s nationals, Radhika had also won the mixed doubles title.
“When I started, I remember Tanvi would snatch the racquet when I used to play on the court and insist on playing (laughs). Winning the district title motivated me; playing for Punjab as well as India at the international level helped shape my game. Competing in the world juniors as well as winning titles in mixed doubles internationally were important steps in my career,” shares Radhika.
Apart from winning the title at the tournament in Baku, Radhika also won bronze in the Singapore International this year.
The youngster, who earlier trained at NCOE, Guwahati, shifted base to Hyderabad in May this year to train under Gopichand.
“My target is to become part of the top-ranked mixed doubles pair in the world. I will be playing in the Lagos International Classic later this month before I play in other international tournaments. Whenever I play, I keep in mind the sacrifices our mother has made for Tanvi and me. She has been our coach as well as mentor too,”
Meena too knows that in the coming days, she has to leave her daughters at the airport to see them off to their training bases in Guwahati and Hyderabad.
“Whenever Tanvi and Radhika win or compete for India, I am always cheering. I know to achieve their goal, they have to stay away from me, but then it’s for their betterment,” Meena said.
The author is an intern at The Indian Express.
