BWF World Junior Championships 2025 Preview: Tanvi, Unnati among top medal prospects for India in individual leg

Over the past week at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, camaraderie, cheerleading, and team spirit were in focus as 32 nations competed for the Suhandinata Cup.

From Monday, it is every player and pair for themselves as the individual leg of the BWF World Junior Championships gets underway.

Indians are high on confidence after a historic first-ever bronze medal in the team event in front of a home crowd. The hopes of further glory are not unrealistic in the individual categories, where India has one gold, four silver and six bronze medals in the past.

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The host nation’s expectations of a podium finish will be the highest in the girls’ singles. Top seed Tanvi Sharma, the Asian Junior Championships bronze medallist, had shown her mettle at the senior level earlier this season with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. Eighth seed Unnati Hooda, too, had a breakout run to the quarterfinals at the China Open, a Super 1000 event. Both players, placed in the opposite halves of the draw, have received byes in the opening round and will be eager to emulate Saina Nehwal, who won gold in Pune in 2008. Tenth seed Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, too, will begin her campaign directly from the round of 64.

FILE PHOTO: Unnati Hooda had a breakout run to the quarterfinals at the China Open, a Super 1000 event. 
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN

Vennala Kalagotla, an Asian Junior Championships bronze medallist, is the fourth Indian in the girls’ singles field.

In the boys’ singles, 11th seed Rounak Chouhan, an 18-year-old shuttler from Raipur, leads an Indian lineup which also includes Suryaksh Rawat, Tankara Gnana Dattu Talasila and Hmar Lalthazuala.

Lalthazuala is likely to face top seed Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in the round of 32, while Gnana Dattu and Suryaksh are projected to meet in an all-Indian clash at the same stage.

FILE PHOTO: Suryaksh Rawat of Uttar Pradesh in action.
| Photo Credit:
RITU RAJ KONWAR

India’s best results in this category have been silver medals from Siril Verma (2015) and Sankar Muthusamy (2022).

India has never clinched a medal in doubles, but the current squad includes some bright prospects capable of changing that.

Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu are the former World No. 1 pair in boys’ doubles, but may need to make it past reigning Asian Junior Champions Chen Jun Ting and Liu Jun Rong of China in the quarterfinals for the medal.

In mixed doubles, the unseeded pair of C. Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri can be a tricky opponent.

Every match will follow a best-of-three games format, with each game played to 15 points, as part of the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) broader testing and analysis programme.

If the score becomes 14-all, a two-point lead is needed to win a game. At 20-all, it will be sudden death.

Published on Oct 12, 2025