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India's image as one of the key centres of world badminton got a further boost on Tuesday when the Badminton World Federation allotted the hosting rights of the 2025 BWF World Junior Championship to Guwahati during the BWF Annual General Meet in Chengdu on the sidelines of the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup 2024.
The prestigious tournament, which India will host for the second time, will be held at the new state-of-the-art National Centre of Excellence, which has also earned acclaim globally from all quarters for the facilities and stadium capacity since its inauguration in August last year. The National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati boasts 14 badminton courts, an international standard gymnasium and a seating capacity of around 4000 spectators. "India's production line of elite badminton talent is booming, and it is of great significance for the BWF to bring our World Juniors to India. BAI's brand new National Centre of Excellence is a state-of-art facility for badminton and will be the perfect arena for our next generation talent to battle it out for team and individual glory," BWF president Paul-Erik Hoyer said in a statement after Guwahati was confirmed as the host city. Guwahati successfully hosted the BWF Super 100 competition, Guwahati Masters, in December last year and the feedback also was one of the key enablers in tilting the decision in India's favour. "The allotment of the BWF World Juniors to Guwahati is a vindication of India's growing reputation as a badminton powerhouse which can not only just produce champion players but also host mega international events. During the Guwahati Masters, BWF officials also had visited the National Centre of Excellence to check out the facilities and other arrangements," said BAI secretary-general Sanjay Mishra, who was also present at the AGM. India is already hosting the Yonex Sunrise India Open which has been upgraded to Super 750 and the country is a host to multiple other international tournaments creating a strong circuit of one Super 300, two Super 100 and a couple of junior international events regularly. The last time India hosted the BWF World Juniors in Pune in 2008, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win the world junior title. The following year, India hosted the BWF World Championships in Hyderabad and in 2014 successfully hosted the Thomas & Uber Cup finals in New Delhi. (ANI)
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