Badminton
Anupama Upadhyaya replaces Tasnim Mir to become new badminton Junior World No. 1
Anupama Upadhyaya replaced fellow Indian shuttler Tasnim Mir from the pole position and became the new Junior World No. 1. The Jr. Top 10 for girls now has 4 Indians in it.
Junior world number 3 Anupama Upadhyaya was the sole Indian to win her fixture vs Malaysia (BAI)
Young shuttle sensation Anupama Upadhyaya has been scaling new heights in the last few months and has now achieved a new career high by becoming the Junior World No. 1. In becoming so, she has displaced fellow Indian shuttler, Tasnim Mir from the pole position of the BWF Junior World Rankings.
With this rave feat, the 17-year-old Anupama has also become only the sixth Indian shuttler to top the rankings of the juniors. Before her, it was Aditya Sharma who became the World No. 1 in 2014, followed by Siril Verma in 2016, Lakshya Sen in 2017, Tasnim Mir in 2022 and Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian also became the World No. 1 only a few weeks back.
Not only that, alongside Anupama's presence at the World No. 1 spot in the junior rankings, three other Indian female shuttlers are also a part of the Top 10 with Tasnim Mir, Anwesha Gowda and young, Unnati Hooda, being a part of the fray.
Playing and performing well across 18 tournaments, the Panchkula shuttler has been enjoying a good form of late and has also broken into the women's Top 100 too and is currently at World No. 63.
"I am really happy today. I have achieved a milestone. Now, the next target will be to break into the top 40 in the senior category. Last six months have been good for me and I have won a number of championships," the 17-year-old conveyed to The Tribune.
In 2022, Anupama's year has been eventful with title wins at the Polish Open and Uganda Junior International. Other than that, Anupama has had a semi-final run at the Syed Modi International Super 300 in January and a quarterfinal dash at the Orleans Open Super 100 event.
A student of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Anupama's schedule is chock-a-block with events lined up ahead of the big Junior Badminton World Championships scheduled to be held in Santander, Spain from October 17 to 31, where she will hope to live up to the expectations that will come with her new ranking.
All in all, the Indian junior badminton scene does look promising with several young shuttlers being in the Top 10.
