At merely 17 years of age, Kharb, presently ranked 165th in the latest BWF standings, exhibited formidable prowess, dispatching Switzerland’s world No. 141, Milena Schnider, with a commanding 21-12, 21-8 victory. The final, concluded in a swift 33 minutes, further solidifies Kharb’s ascendant trajectory following her maiden international title at the Belgian International the previous week, where she ascended 57 places from a former ranking of 222nd.
Throughout the tournament, Kharb did not concede a single game, beginning her campaign with a 21-17, 21-16 win over Denmark’s world No. 77 Amalie Schulz in the round of 32—a competitor she had outlasted in the Belgian International final only days prior.
In the semi-finals, the Indian sensation triumphed over world No. 146 Frederikke Lund of Denmark with a composed 21-15, 21-12 performance, having earlier overwhelmed Ukraine’s world No. 356 Sofiia Lavrova 21-12, 21-7 in the quarterfinals. Kharb had dispatched Lithuania’s world No. 201 Samanta Golubickaite 21-9, 21-17 in the round of 16.
Elsewhere, Lakshya Sharma, who marked his 19th birthday on Saturday, reached the semifinals of the men’s singles, whilst the Indian men’s doubles pairs of Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar and PS Ravikrishna-Akshan Shetty were also halted in the semifinal stage. The women’s doubles team of Anagha Aravinda Pai and Ridhi Kaur Toor succumbed in the quarter-finals. India had no representation in the mixed doubles event.
Kharb’s stellar year has also seen her play an instrumental role in India’s triumph at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Malaysia, where she claimed vital victories over Japan’s then-world No. 29 Natsuki Nidaira and Thailand’s world No. 45 Pornpicha Choeikeewong.
