Indian shuttlers inspire juniors ahead of BWF World Championships in Guwahati

Top Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and Ashwini Ponnappa sent motivational messages to the 25-member Indian squad preparing for the BWF World Junior Championships in Guwahati, urging them to focus, enjoy the competition, and make use of home advantage

Hyderabad: India’s top shuttlers, including former BWF World Junior Championships medallists HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen along with Olympian and women’s doubles shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa, recorded special messages of encouragement for the 25-member Indian squad that is training at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati for the upcoming YONEX SUNRISE BWF World Junior Championships, urging them to enjoy themselves and trust their preparations.

The BWF World Junior Championships 2025 will be played in Guwahati, Assam, from October 6 to 19, 17 years after India first hosted the prestigious event in Pune in 2008.

---

“It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent India at the World Juniors. It’s an opportunity for the juniors to play against the best in the world; this is the first stepping stone. From here, you know what to expect in the next couple of years, because next you are getting into the senior level,” said HS Prannoy, who won a BWF World Junior bronze medal in 2010 and went on to become one of the main stars of Indian badminton.

Pointing out that most of the Indian squad members were training at the state-of-the-art NCE, Prannoy said the players would have the advantage of knowing the conditions well and needed to make the most of it.

Lakshya Sen, who like Prannoy has bagged a bronze medal at both the World Junior and Senior World Championships, said it was important for the players to stay focused and not get distracted at this stage. “It’s your home turf. It’s a great event to take advantage of the home support and conditions,” he said, adding that there would be a lot of eyes on the players and they would have to focus on what is important.

2011 World Championships bronze medallist Ashwini urged the players to trust the training process they had followed in the run-up to the championships and asked them to give their best to win as many medals as possible for the country.

India has so far won 11 medals, including a gold and four silver, in the BWF World Junior Championships, with its best-ever performance coming in the 2008 edition where Saina Nehwal won gold and RMV Gurusai Dutt won bronze. India is hoping to secure a podium place in the mixed team event for the first time, as they are seeded second, along with a strong showing in the paired events during the individual championships.