Indian badminton contingent departs for USA to participate in BWF World Junior Championships

New Delhi: Following an intense training camp, conducted by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), the Indian contingent has left for the USA where they will be participating in the BWF World Junior Championships 2023, to be held in Spokane, USA from September 25 to October 8.

Spearheaded by the Odisha Open 2022 champion Unnati Hooda and the two-time U-19 All India Junior Ranking champion Ayush Shetty, a strong 16-member squad took part in the BAI’s preparatory camp at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, which is supported by the REC Limited and Sports Authority of India, from September 1 to 20.

“The three-week training camp was aimed at strengthening skills of players and also improving team bonding as they will be competing in the team championship along with individual events. I am confident that this camp has helped players to bond and know each other better. The squad looks very competitive and I hope they will bring glory to the nation. I wish them good luck,” commented Sanjay Mishra, BAI General Secretary.

The players took part in rigorous training under the watchful eyes of singles coach Park Tae-sang, Umendra Rana, Rinky Singh and doubles coach Akshay Dewalkar, the former international shuttler, along with the other coaches of the National Centre of Excellence. The players also played a team practice match during the camp in order to get used to the team event format of the World Championships.

The championships will commence with the team event, scheduled from September 25 to 30, followed by the individual event to be held from October 2 to 8.

India have been placed in Group D along with Germany, Brazil, Cook Islands and the Dominican Republic as they will kickstart their campaign against Cook Islands on September 25. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the next stage.

India’s S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian had won the silver medal in the boys’ singles in the last edition of World Junior Championships held in Spain in 2022.

Indian Junior Badminton Squad (Team Event)

Boys' Singles: Ayush Shetty, Tushar Suveer, Lokesh Reddy, Nicholas Nathan Raj

Girls' Singles: Unnati Hooda, Tara Shah, Devika Sihag, Shriyanshi Valishetty

Boys' Doubles: Nicholas Nathan Raj/Tushar Suveer, Divyam Arora/Mayank Rana

Girls' Doubles: Radhika Sharma/Tanvi Sharma, Vennala K/Shriyanshi Valishetty

Mixed Doubles: Samarveer/Radhika Sharma, Sathwik Reddy K/Vaishnavi Khadkekar

Indian Junior Badminton Squad (Individual Event)

Boys' Singles: Ayush Shetty, Tushar Suveer, Lokesh Reddy

Girls' Singles: Unnati Hooda, Tara Shah, Devika Sihag

Boys' Doubles: Nicholas Nathan Raj/Tushar Suveer, Divyam Arora/Mayank Rana

Girls' Doubles: Radhika Sharma/Tanvi Sharma, Vennala K/Shriyanshi Valishetty

Mixed Doubles: Samarveer/Radhika Sharma, Sathwik Reddy K/Vaishnavi Khadkekar