Indian squad upbeat ahead of Badminton Asia Junior Championships

Panchkula, July 16: The 23-member Indian squad for Badminton Asia Junior Championships underwent a rigorous training session at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula for 15 days ahead of their departure to Suzhou, China for the continental event to be held from July 20-28. The team worked on various aspects at the camp and particular focus was to enhance accuracy in the game, apart from improving agility and team-bonding. They also tried out various combinations of players to see what can be the best-suited options for different opponents in the team event. Coach Sanjay Mishra addressing the squad

“All our youngsters are highly focussed and well-prepared. They have had a good run in the domestic circuit and have had winning performances in the international circuit. We are confident of a good show,” said Sanjay Mishra, India’s Chief Junior National Coach.

Manipur’s Meiraba has been in scintillating form of late, winning his first international tournament at the White Night Russian Junior International Badminton Tournament earlier this month. In the domestic circuit also, he tasted glory at four consecutive domestic junior titles as well as both the selection tournaments for this event.

Oozing confidence, the 16-year-old said, “My teammates and I have been practising really hard for the tournament where I’ll be making my debut this year. The coaches have been really supportive. I hope to bring back a medal for India.”

While the team event will be held from July 20-23, the individual competition will follow it from July 24-28. The Indian contingent will hope to emulate

Lakshya Sen’s feat who ended a 54-year wait last year to win the boys’ singles gold.

The Squad

Sr No	Name	State/Org	Sr No	Name	State/Org
	BOYS			GIRLS
1.	Maisnam Meiraba	AAI	1.	Malvika Bansod	AAI
2.	Sathish Kumar K	TN	2.	Ashi Rawat	DLI
3.	Sidhanth Gupta	TN	3.	Samiya Imad Farooqui	TS
4.	S. Muthuswamy	TN	4.	Unnati Bisht	UTR
5.	Ishaan Bhatnagar	CG	5.	Aditi Bhatt	UTR
6.	VishnuvardhanGoud	TS	6.	Tanisha Crasto	GOA
7.	Manjit Singh	MNP	7.	Teresa Jolly	KER
8.	K. Dingku Sing	MNP	8.	VS Varshini	TN
9.	P.S Ravi Krishna	KER	9.	Simran Singhi	MAH
10.	Manav Raj Smith	KER	10.	Ritika Thakkar	MAH
11.	Edwin Joy	KER	11.	Shruti Mishra	UP
			12.	Riza Mahreen	KER
	COACHES			SUPPORT STAFF
1.	Sanjay Mishra	Junior Chief Coach	1.	Manpreet Hora	Physio
2.	Arun Vishnu	Coach	2.	Astha Kulshreshtha	Physio
3.	Sayali Gokhale	Coach
4.	Sachin Rana	Coach
5.	Chetan Anand	Coach
6.	T Maran	Coach