It has been 18 long years since an Indian won the Taipei Open badminton singles title. Saina Nehwal, who had been crowned junior world champion in 2008 beat local Taiwanese girl, Li Ya Lydia Chia, to become the first Indian to lift the championship. Not even the two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu could replicate that performance.

Tanvi Sharma, just 17, sitting in the 37th spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, and expectedly unseeded in Taipei, shredded the form-book by notching a remarkable 21-16, 21-16 triumph over sixth seed Vietnamese player, Nguyen Thuy Linh, a 28-year-old, 25th ranked veteran of the circuit.