Unnati Hooda to spearhead Indian challenge in Badminton Asia Junior Championships

Rising shuttler Unnati Hooda will spearhead the challenge of a 36-member Indian squad in Badminton Asia U-15 and U-17 Junior Championships in Nonthaburi, Thailand from November 29 to December 4.

Odisha Open champion Unnati will lead the charge in the U-17 women's singles along with Jiya Rawat and Anmol Kharb while Tanvi Sharma, who topped the trials, will compete in the women's U-15 singles along with Ishita Negi, Suhasi Verma and Sampriti Pal.

India's Tasnim Mir and Tara Shah had clinched gold and silver respectively in the U-15 women's singles in the last edition of the championships in 2019.

The prestigious continental event will be conducted after a two-year break, following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The players were picked through the selection trials which took place in Hyderabad last month. As a part of their preparations ahead of the tournament, the selected players went through a 12-day national camp in Raipur from November 14-25.

The Indian squad: Under 15: Men's Singles: Mohammad Ali Mir, Gnana Dattu, Abhinav Garg, Anish Thoppani.

Women's Singles: Tanvi Sharma, Ishita Negi, Suhasi Verma, Sampriti Pal.

Men's Doubles: Arjun Birajdar/Aryan Birajdar, Bjorn Jaison/Aatish Sreenivas P.V.

Women's Doubles: Aanya Bisht/Siddhi Rawat, Tanvi Andluri/Durga Kandrapu.

Mixed Doubles: Bornil Changmai /Shantipriya Hazarika, Ishaan Negi/Siddhi Rawat.

Under-17: Men's Singles: Dhruv Negi, Ansh Negi, Prajwal Sonawane, Neer Nehwal.

Women's Singles: Unnati Hooda, Jiya Rawat, Anmol Kharb.

Men's Doubles: Arsh Mohammad/Sanskar Saraswat, Divyam Arora/Mayank Rana.

Women's Doubles: Vennala K/Shriyanshi Valishetty, Navya Kanderi/Rakshita Sree S.

Mixed Doubles: Arulmurugan R./Srinidhi N., Mayank Rana/Jiya Rawat.