Field Vision

Guwahati, October 12
Fresh from scripting history with their first-ever mixed team bronze, India’s young shuttlers are ready to chase individual honours as the BWF World Junior Championships 2025 kick off at the National Centre of Excellence on Monday.

The 25-member Indian squad comes into the tournament with renewed belief after stunning former champions Korea in the quarterfinals earlier this week. The focus now shifts to translating that team momentum into individual medals.

Girls’ Singles: Tanvi & Unnati Head India’s Strongest Medal Bid

India’s brightest medal prospects lie in the girls’ singles draw, led by junior world No.1 Tanvi Sharma and China Open quarterfinalist Unnati Hooda. Both players have been placed in different halves of the draw — opening up the exciting possibility of an all-Indian final.

Tanvi, the Asian U-19 bronze medallist, enjoys a first-round bye and is likely to face her first major test in the quarterfinals against Indonesia’s seventh seed Thalita Wiryawan.
Unnati, seeded eighth, begins against Liu Hoi Kiu Anna of Hong Kong and could face Thailand’s Anyapat Phichitpreechasak, the second seed, in the last eight.

Elsewhere, fellow Asian U-19 bronze medallist Vennala K and world No.41 Rakshita Sree are drawn in the same quarter. Rakshita may run into Sri Lanka’s fourth seed Ranithma Liyanage in the pre-quarters, while Vennala could face her Asian U-19 semifinal opponent Liu Si Ya of China at the same stage.

Boys’ Singles: Challenging Roads Ahead

The path to the podium looks tougher in the boys’ singles section. Lalthazuala Hmar could face world junior No.1 and top seed Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah of Indonesia in the round of 32.
Rounak Chouhan, seeded 11th, meets China’s Li Zhi Hang in a tricky third-round clash, while compatriots Gnana Dattu TT and Suryaksh Rawat (15th seed) are likely to face each other in the same round.

Boys’ Doubles: Bhargav & Viswa Aim for a Deep Run

The former junior world No.1 pair Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu start their campaign against Andrej Macek and Andrej Suchy of Slovenia.
Seeded sixth, they could face reigning Asian Junior Champions Chen Jun Ting and Liu Jun Rong of China in the quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, Bhavya Chhabra and Sumith A R open against Philip Kryger Boe (nephew of Danish doubles great Mathias Boe) and Salomon Thomasen, while Vishnu Kode and Mithileish P Krishnan take on seventh seeds Thibault Gardon and Mady Sow of France.

Girls’ Doubles: Testing Draws for Indian Pairs

The Indian girls’ doubles combinations will need to navigate a difficult path to reach the later rounds.
Vennala K and Reshika U face a Japanese pair in the round of 32, while Gayatri and Mansa Rawat have tough Chinese opponents in the same stage.
Angel Punera and Aanya Bisht could meet the fifth-seeded Korean duo Cheon Hye In and Moon Seo in the pre-quarterfinals.

Mixed Doubles: Hoping to Upset the Odds

In mixed doubles, C Lalramsanga and Taarini Suri, finalists at the Junior Grand Prix (Pune) earlier this year, are expected to face Japan’s eighth seeds Shuji Sawada and Aoi Banno in the third round.
Meanwhile, the 14th-seeded duo Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo will need to overcome the French third seeds Thibault Gardon and Agathe Cuevas in the pre-quarters and Thailand’s sixth seeds Pannawat Jamtubim and Kodchaporn Chaichana in the quarters to stay in medal contention.

Building on Momentum

India’s best-ever showing at the BWF World Juniors came 17 years ago in Pune, when Saina Nehwal won the girls’ singles gold and RMV Guru Sai Dutt took bronze in the boys’ event.
With 11 individual medals so far in the competition’s history — including four silver — the current crop now carries the hopes of adding another golden chapter.