India will send a 39-member squad to the Badminton Asia under 15 and under 17 junior championships in Chengdu, China, from August 20-25 with an aim to create a strong pool of players ahead of next year's World Junior Championship, which the country is hosting.
The Indian contingent, which was picked after extensive selection trials in Bengaluru, will be led by Gnana Dattu and Tanvi Reddy Andluri in the U-17 category, while Shyam Bindiganavile and Tanvi Patri will be the top singles players in the U-15 category.
In the last edition of the BAC championship, which was held in the same city, India had bagged one gold, one silver and one bronze with Bornil Changmai standing atop the U-15 boy's singles podium.
The Indian contingent left for Chengdu on Saturday after an extensive preparatory camp at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati under the watchful eyes of the Indian and foreign coaches.
Speaking about the team's chances, Badminton Association of India secretary Sanjay Mishra said, "India is fielding one of the biggest squads for the Badminton Asia Championships and I am confident that we can win sizable medals.
"The players and the coaches have put in a lot of work in the camp and our players are now ready to make a mark in the competition."
Shaina Manimuthu will be the only player to be involved in two events as she will be playing in the girls U-17 singles and girls doubles with Aikya Shetty.
India Squad
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Under age 15 year boys Singles: Shyam Bindiganavile, Shashank Vanamala, Prangan Choudhary, Pushkar Sai
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Girls Singles: Tani Patri, Shaina Manimuthu, Gatha Suryawanshi, Hithaishree L Rajaiah
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Boys Doubles: Rahul Kadapakula/Vedant Pahwa, Shashwat Chaudhary/Shaurya Chaudhary
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Girls Doubles: Shaina Manimuthu/Aikya Shetty, Nidhi Atmaram/Selvasamruddhi Selvaprbhu
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Mixed Doubles: Sahid Ibrahim Peer/Dheeshitha Singha Gopinath Singh, Kaveyugan KA/Anushka Jennifer
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Under age 17 years boys Singles: Gnana Dattu TT, Prateek Koundilya, Dev Ruparelia, Abhinav Garg
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Girls Singles: Tanvi Reddy Andluri, Adarshini Shri NB, Parul Choudhary, Durga Isha Kandrapu
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Boys Doubles: Bjron Jaison/Aathish Sreenivas PV, Abhinav Kandari/Yogansh Singh
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Girls Doubles: Annaya Bisht/Angel Punera, Diya Bheemaiah B/Baruni Parshwal
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Mixed Doubles: Showrya Kiran J/Keerthy Manchala, Manish Reddy/Deepak Raj Aditi.
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