Unnati Hooda to lead India's challenge as 36-member squad leave for Asia junior badminton championships

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Rising shuttler Unnati Hooda will be among country's youngsters to battle it out for the titles as a 36-member Indian contingent left for Nonthaburi, Thailand to compete in the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships 2022, scheduled from November 29 to December 4.

The Odisha Open champion Unnati will lead the charge in the U-17 women's singles alongside Jiya Rawat and Anmol Kharb whereas 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 medal respectively in the U-15 women's singles in the last edition of the championships, held in 2019. The prestigious continental event will be conducted after a two-year break, forced due to the pandemic.

The players have been selected through the selection trials which took place in Hyderabad last month.

Mohammad Ali Mir, Gnana Dattu, Abhinav Garg and Anish Thoppani will be the players to watch out for in the U-15 men's singles. Dhruv Negi, on the other hand, will shoulder the responsibility in the U-17 men's singles along with Ansh Negi, Prajwal Sonawane and Neer Nehwal.

As a part of their preparations ahead of the tournament, the selected players also participated in a 12-day national camp in Raipur from November 14-25.

In the doubles section, pair of Arsh Mohammad and Sanskar Saraswat, and Divyam Arora and Mayank Rana will be India's best bet in the men's U-17 category while Arjun Birajdar and Aryan Birajdar will compete in the men's U-15 along with the pair of Bjorn Jaison and Aatish Sreenivas PV.

Vennala K and Shriyanshi Valishetty will play in the U-17 women's doubles category along with the pair of Navya Kanderi and Rakshita Sree S. Aanya Bisht and Siddhi Rawat, and Tanvi Andluri and Durga Kandrapu are part of the women's U-15 doubles team.

Indian squads:

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

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