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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 number 1, host India is gearing up for a historic performance in the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships that get underway at the National Centre of Excellence here from Monday.
The BWF World Junior Championships have returned to India after a 17-year hiatus and will be held in two phases from October 6 to 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. India has so far won a total of 11 individual medals in the history of the championships, with its best-ever performance coming in Pune 2008, when it 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 the 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 General Secretary, Sanjay Mishra, as quoted from a press release by BAI. India will open its campaign against Nepal on Monday, followed by matches against Sri Lanka on Tuesday and the UAE on Wednesday. India are the 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, badminton powerhouses Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and holders Indonesia, all vying for a historic medal. Indonesia is the in-form team, as they also clinched the Asian Mixed Team title, beating China in February. Meanwhile, India came within striking distance of beating Japan in the quarterfinals. India's medal hopes in individual events will depend primarily on the girls' singles, which comprises Asian U-19 championships bronze medallist Tanvi Sharma, who is also the junior world number one, Vennala K, China Open quarterfinalist Unnati, and Rakshitha. "All four of our 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. (ANI)
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