Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022: Young shuttler Unnati Hooda settles for silver in the U17 category

Indian star shuttler Unnati Hooda on Sunday won the silver medal at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022 U17 and U15 in Nonthaburi, Thailand. The Indian contingent won three silver and two bronze medals in this prestigious tournament.

Also read: BWF World Rankings: Lakshya Sen becomes his career-best world's number sixth badminton player

Moreover, Odisha Open champion Unnati is the first Indian woman player to reach the final of the tournament in the U17 category. She lost 8-21 21-9 14-21 against Sarunrak Vitidsarn of Thailand in the title match. She made a strong comeback after losing the first game in the final but her Thai opponent snatched back the momentum to score seven straight points when the third game was tied at 14-14. Earlier, Unnati Hooda became the first Indian to make a U17 category final at the Asian meet.

At the same time, the men's doubles pair of Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat also finished second. The pair of Arsh and Sanskar lost 13-21 21-19 22-24 to Chinese Taipei's Chung-Hsiang Yih and Lai Po-Yu/Yi-Hao Lin in the final.

Also read: Major Upcoming Badminton Tournaments

Meanwhile, Anish Thoppani lost to Chung-Hsiang Yih 8-21 24-22 19-21 in the U15 boys' singles final. The Indian shuttler fought hard but unforced errors at crucial moments saw him lose the match. In all three finals, the Indian players came back to win the second game but failed to win the third game. While Indian men's under-15 shuttler Gnana Dattu and India's under-15 men's doubles pair of Bjorn Jaison and Aathish Sreenivas PV lost their semi-finals on Saturday and had to settle for bronze. 

India's Medal achievers in the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2022:

• Unnati Hooda - silver medal in U17 women's singles
• Anish Thoppani - silver medal in U15 women's singles
• Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat - silver medal in U17 men's doubles
• Gnana Dattu - bronze in U15 men's singles 
• Bjorn Jaison and Aathish Sreenivas PV - bronze medal in U15 men's doubles