# Sports

Unnati Hooda, Ayush Shetty to lead Indian Challange at BWF World Junior Championships

The team before leaving for the USA on Saturday took part in the BAI’s preparatory camp at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, from September 1 to 20.

Harpal Singh Bedi | New Delhi | September 23, 2023 7:30 pm

Unnati Hooda, Ayush Shetty to lead Indian Challange at BWF World Junior Championships

Odisha Open 2022 champion Unnati Hooda and the two-time U-19 All India Junior Ranking champion Ayush Shetty will lead a strong 16-member Indian Challange at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships , to be held in Spokane, USA from September 25 to October 8

The team before leaving for the USA on Saturday took part in the BAI’s preparatory camp at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, 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,” said BAI General Secretary Sanjay Mishra.

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 prestigious 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.

The Squad

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