Badminton
Selection for Asian Junior Badminton Championship hinges on performance at U-19 Ranking Tournament in Assam
Guwahati/IBNS: The All India U-19 Junior Ranking badminton championship is set to begin at the DTRP Indoor Stadium, Assam from Wednesday, with around 1,500 boys and girls, including 100 from the home state expected to participate.
The competition featured singles, doubles, and mixed doubles categories, with Haryana boys Manraj Singh and Gagan being the top seeds for the boys' singles event, and local boy Tonmoy Bikash Boruah as the No.12 seed, reported EastMojo.
For the girls' singles, Haryana's Unnati Hooda and Anmol Kharb are the top-seeded players.
In boys' doubles, Karnataka's Nicholas Nathan Raj and Tushar Suveer are the No.1 seeds, while the Tamil Nadu pair of Shreya Balaji and Srinidhi N are the top seeds in the girls' doubles category
In mixed doubles, the Tamil Nadu pair of Arulmurugan R and Srinidhi N are the top-seeded pair.
The tournament will be crucial for the participating players, as probables for the national camp for the forthcoming Asian Junior Badminton Championship will be selected from the competition.
The Asian Junior Badminton Championship is scheduled to be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from July 7-16.
According to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), the top-8 players from both boys' and girls' singles events will be invited for the selection trials to be conducted in the national capital from June 4-7.
The top-4 pairs from each of the pair events, namely boys' doubles, girls' doubles, and mixed doubles in the competition, will also get a chance to take part in the selection trials in New Delhi.
The competition will begin with the qualifying round matches across all categories for the first four days (May 10–13), before the main draw contests begin on May 14.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals are scheduled for May 16, while the finals of all categories will be played on May 17. The matches will begin at 9 am each day, and the timings for the final will be decided once the tournament progresses.
In the past, many age-group competitions have been marred by controversies, with age fudging being a significant issue.
There have been numerous cases of players competing in younger age groups to gain an unfair advantage and do injustice to deserving candidates.
In 2022, multiple cases of age fraud emerged during the All India Sub-Junior Under-13 ranking tournaments in Hyderabad and Mohali, leading to many aggrieved parents protesting against the participation of over-aged players and demanding a probe into the suspected players' claims.
Most recently, in February 2023, the BAI disqualified eight shuttlers from participating in the All India Sub Junior Ranking badminton tournament in Jaipur after the Badminton Parents group, called Swachh Badminton India (SBI), complained against the eight players who were found manipulating their age qualification.
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