Badminton
India to host BWF World Junior Championships 2025 in Guwahati
The National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati will act as the host of the BWF World Junior Championships 2025.
India will host the 2025 World Junior Badminton Championships at theNational Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, the sport's global governing body BWF said on Tuesday.
The event will return to India after a gap of 16 years. The tournament was held in Pune in 2008 for the first time in the country and prodigy Saina Nehwal defeated Sayaka Sato of Japan to win the girl's title.
"Both the team and individual events will be held at the Badminton Association of India's (BAI) National Centre of Excellence in the northeast region of the country," the BWF said in a release.
"India's production line of elite badminton talent is booming, and it is of great significance for the BWF to bring our World Juniors to India for just the second time," BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer said.
"BAI's brand new National Centre of Excellence is a state-of-the-art facility for badminton and will be the perfect arena for our next-generation talent to battle it out for team and individual glory."
Dates for the 2025 event are yet to be confirmed.
Guwahati successfully hosted the BWF Super 100 competition, Guwahati Masters, in December last year and the feedback also was one of the key enablers in tilting the decision in India’s favour.
“The allotment of the BWF World Juniors to Guwahati is a vindication of India’s growing reputation as a badminton powerhouse which can not only just produce champion players but also host mega international events. During the Guwahati Masters, BWF officials also had visited the National Centre of Excellence to check out the facilities and other arrangements,” said BAI secretary-general Sanjay Mishra, who was also present at the AGM.
Apart from the Junior Worlds, BWF also announced hosts for the next edition of the Thomas and Uber Cup. The tournament will be hosted by Denmark in Horsens.
It is just the second time that Denmark will stage the BWF world men's and women's team championships following Aarhus in 2021.
"Horsens is renowned for its cultural and entertainment events, and we are excited to be bringing the prestigious BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2026 to the badminton-loving local community," said Høyer.
The hosting rights were confirmed at the BWF Council meeting on April 28.