Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022: Unnati Hooda to spearhead India's challenge

Young star shuttler Unnati Hooda will lead a 36-member Indian contingent at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022 Under-15 and Under-17. The Indian contingent will leave for Nonthaburi, Thailand for the championship to be held from November 29 to December 4.

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Odisha Open champion Unnati will present the challenge in the Under-17 women's singles which also features Jiya Rawat and Anmol Kharb. While the trials topper Tanvi Sharma will play in the women's under-15 category along with Ishita Negi, Suhasi Verma, and Sampriti Pal.

Hooda, world No. 4 in the junior badminton world rankings, is also the top seed at the Asian championships. She became the youngest Indian to win a Super 100 BWF World Tour seniors title at the Odisha Open earlier this year.

The six-day meet will be held at Chaengwattana Hall in Nonthaburi and will see the upcoming shuttlers competing in the under-17 and under-15 categories. Apart from men's and women's singles, the competitions at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022 will also be held in the three doubles divisions - men, women, and mixed.

Earlier India's Tasnim Mir and Tara Shah had won gold and silver medals in Under-15 women's singles in 2019. This tournament is happening after two years due to the Corona epidemic. The players were selected after the selection trials which were held in Hyderabad last month.

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On the other hand, in the Under-15 men's singles, players to watch out for will be Mohammad Ali Mir, Gnana Dattu, Abhinav Garg, and Anish Thoppani. At the same time, Dhruv Negi will lead the under-17 men's singles side along with Ansh Negi, Prajwal Sonawane, and Neer Nehwal.

While in doubles, Arsh Mohammad-Sanskar Saraswat and Divyam Arora-Mayank Rana will be India's best pair in the men's U-17 category. In the meantime,  Arjun Birajdar-Aryan Birajdar will compete with Bjorn Jaison-Aatish Sreenivas PV in men's U-15.

Indian squad:

U-15 men's singles:

Mohammad Ali Mir, Gnana Dattu, Abhinav Garg, Anish Thoppani

Under-15 women's singles:

Tanvi Sharma, Ishita Negi, Suhasi Verma, Sampriti Pal

Under-15 men's doubles:

Arjun Birajdar-Aryan Birajdar, Bjorn Jaison-Aatish Sreenivas PV

Under-15 women's doubles:

Aanya Bisht-Siddhi Rawat, Tanvi Andluri-Durga Kandrapu

Under-15 mixed doubles:

Bornil Changmai-Shantipriya Hazarika, Ishaan Negi-Siddhi Rawat

Under-17 men's singles:

Dhruv Negi, Ansh Negi, Prajwal Sonawane, Neer Nehwal

Under-17 women's singles:

Unnati Hooda, Jiya Rawat, Anmol Kharb

Under-17 men's doubles:

Arsh Mohammad-Sanskar Saraswat, Divyam Arora-Mayank Rana

Under-17 women's doubles:

Vennala K-Shriyanshi Valishetty, Navya Kanderi-Rakshita Sree S

Under-17 mixed doubles: 

Arulmurugan R-Srinidhi N, Mayank Rana-Jiya Rawat