India fields strong quartet of Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma, Rakshitha Ramraj & Vennala Kalagotla for World juniors

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PTI) India shuttler Unnati Hooda in action at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships . (Source : PTI)

A whole 17 years after Saina Nehwal won India’s first world junior championship at Pune, a stunningly strong bunch of women’s singles shuttlers comprising Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma, Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj and Vennala Kalagotla will contend for the crown at the Guwahati World Juniors from October 13-20.

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While India had to settle for a couple of bronzes at the recent Asian Juniors, the country is fielding one of the most promising bunch of teenagers to take aim at the U19 crown.

All of Unnati, Tanvi amd Rakshitha have played intermittently on the senior circuit and returned some promising results with Top 30 scalps. The tall, rangy Vennala Kalagotla, daughter of a ball badminton player, is a new addition but impressed at the Asian meet where she landed a surprise bronze. Unnati made quarters at China Open, while Rakshitha had a good swing in Europe earlier in the year. Tanvi, who trains at Guwahati, made finals at US Open.

Chinese Yin Yiqing and Liu Siya will be the main challenges, while Tomoka Miyazaki, a World No 7, is still eligible to turn out. Thai Sarunak Vitidsarn, sister of Kunlavut, won last year, but this edition at the National Centre of Excellence will be lit up by the presence of the strongest Indian contingent after Unnati topped trials on Tuesday.

In men’s singles, Rounak Chouhan, Suryakash Rawat, Ganana Dattu and the super talented Mizo, Hmar Lalthazuala, will contend for the title.

The boys doubles, comprises Bhavya Chhabra/Sumith A.R, Bhargav Ram Arigela/Biswa Tej Gobbauru and Vishnu Kedhar Kode/Mithilesh P.K, while
Girls doubles will see Vennala Kalagotla, a bit of an all rounder combine with Reshika U. Others include Rawat sisters Gayatri and Mansa, and skilled duo Tanoo Chandra/Taarini Suri.

Mixed doubles will see Bhavya Chhabra/Vishakha Toppo, Lalramsanga/Taarini Suri, Vishnu Kedhar/Keerthy Manchala and Vansh Dev/Dianka Waldia, a batch of Juniors that has received dedicated attention at the National Academy Specialist Centre.

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