Tanvi Sharma and Unnati Hooda lead India’s charge at BWF World Juniors in Guwahati | Badminton News – The Times of India

“This is the time to prove themselves,” India doubles coach Ivan Sozonov told TOI from Guwahati on Tuesday after another satisfying day on the field for the hosts of the BWF World Junior Championships. And the young Indian shuttlers proved their mettle on Day 2 of the individual events at the National Center of Excellence, with prominent medal contenders being Tanvi Sharma and Unnati Hooda, with Rakshitha Sree R later joining them in starting a winning Worlds campaign for India in the girls’ singles. Thereafter, all four Indian boys’ singles players – Rounak Chauhan, Suryaksh Rawat, Lalthazuala Hmar and Gnana Dattu TT – also advanced to the next round. Top-seeded Tanvi defeated Poland’s Wiktoria Kaletka 15-2, 15-1 in just 11 minutes, while eighth seed Unnati eased to a 15-8, 15-9 victory over Hong Kong’s Liu Hoi Anna. Rakshitha overcame the challenge of Canada’s Lucy Yang 15-5, 15-9. 11th seed Rounak defeated Thisath Rupathunga of Sri Lanka 15-3, 15-6; 15th seed Suryaksh defeated Yigitcan Erol of Turkiye 15-5, 15-8; while Lalthazuala got the better of Rylan Tan of the USA 15-11, 15-5. A few hours later, Gnana Dattu joined his teammates in the round of 32 to defeat Brazil’s Joaquim Mendonca 15-10, 15-13. The only disappointment for the hosts in the singles was the defeat of Asian Junior Championships bronze medalist Vennala K, who could not find her rhythm against fifth seed Tonrug Saeheng of Thailand, losing 6-15, 5-15 in the second round. But coach Sozonov warned that the real competition at a World Cup event starts when the final 32 take the field. “It’s hard to predict because there are a lot of good players,” the Russian said. “And many teams don’t bring their best players for the team events, so I noticed that the quality of the play gets better with each round of the individual events.” The tough challenge for the youngsters was evident in some setbacks on Tuesday, with Indonesia’s seventh-seeded Thalita Wiryawan, the top ranked player in the girls’ singles, being knocked out by Chinese Taipei’s Shu-Yu Wen, who fought back for a 12-15, 15-7, 15-8 win in 34 minutes. In the mixed doubles, C Lalramasanga and Taarini Suri recorded a dominant 15-12, 15-5 win, while 14th seeds Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo struggled before winning 15-4, 13-15, 15-5 in the second round. In the girls’ doubles, Mansa and Gayatri Rawat advanced with a 15-3, 15-5 win over Egypt’s Alya Elghandour and Fatema Rabie, while Aanya Bisht and Angel Punera emerged victorious over Poland’s Wiktoria Kaletka and Olga Szwarnowiecka 15-12, 15-11. In the boys’ doubles, sixth seeds Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu defeated Andrej Macek and Andrej Suchy of Slovakia 15-7, 15-6 in the second round. But later in the day, Bhavya and Sumith AR saved a match point but could not avoid a 12-15, 15-10, 16-14 defeat against the Danish pairing of Philip Boe and Salomon Thomasen – India’s second defeat on the day.