Unnati, Rakshitha to lead Indian challenge at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships

The BWF World Junior Championships have returned to India after a gap of 17 years and will be played in two phases from October 6-19

Hyderabad: Bolstered by the presence of experienced campaigners like Unnati Hooda and Rakshitha Sree and a strong line-up that includes a current and former junior World Junior No.1, host India is gearing up for a historic performance in the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships that gets underway at the National Centre of Excellence here from Monday.

The BWF World Junior Championships have returned to India after a gap of 17 years and will be played in two phases from October 6-19. The first phase will see 36 teams vying for the coveted Suhandinata Cup in the mixed team championships, followed by the individual championships for the Eye-Level Cup.

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India has so far won a total of 11 individual medals in the history of the championships, with their best-ever performance coming in Pune 2008 when they bagged a gold and bronze medal.

The current Indian contingent has the potential to surpass that tally and also clinch a mixed team medal, thanks to the depth of the squad that has helped the hosts secure second seeding in the championships.

Clubbed with UAE, Sri Lanka and Nepal in Group H, India are favourites to top the group and challenge for a medal in a newly introduced best-of-three set relay-scoring format in which each set will be a race to 45 points.

“We have been performing quite well in the junior events over the last few years, with BAI giving enough exposure to the players as part of the preparation for the World Junior Championships in Guwahati. We are once again expecting multiple medals this time around as most of the team members have been training at this very venue for the last year or so,” said Hony, General Secretary, Sanjay Mishra, BAI.

India will open their campaign against Nepal on Monday, followed by a match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday and the UAE on Wednesday. India are favourites to top their group and in the knock-out stage, India is likely to face former champions South Korea, who are expected to top Group G, and a win against them should guarantee the hosts a historic medal.

The other major medal contenders include 14-time champions China or badminton powerhouses Japan, South Korea, Thailand or holders Indonesia for a historic medal.

Indonesia are the in-form team as they also clinched the Asian Mixed team title, beating China in February, while India had come within striking distance of beating Japan in the quarterfinals.

India’s medal hope in individual events will depend primarily on girls’ singles, which comprises Asian U-19 championships bronze medallists Tanvi Sharma, who is also junior world number one, Vennala K, China Open quarterfinalist Unnati and Rakshitha.

“All four girls’ singles players are medal contenders and can even win the gold medal. Even our boys can beat any opponent on their day, and I am confident that they will excel in home conditions,” said the team’s foreign singles coach, Park Tae-Sang.

India’s hopes in boys’ singles will rest mostly on junior world no 14 Rounak Chohan and 17-year-old Gnana Dattu TT.

The hosts would also be hoping for a special performance in the paired events, as the boys’ doubles combination of Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu had scaled the world number one ranking in January earlier this year.

“I am aware that India has never won a medal in the paired events before this, but this time we have a formidable lineup. These players have been playing regularly on the circuit and that experience of training at this venue should have helped them a lot,” said Russian doubles specialist coach Ivan Sozonov.