World Junior No. 4 Lakshya Sen will sperahead India’s challenge at the BWF World junior badminton championships, beginning here from Monday.
The 14-day championships, starting with team action continues until November 10 and will be followed by individual events, beginning from November 11 to 18.
Holders China have been seeded No. 1, followed by Indonesia at No. 2, while South Korea and Thailand share the third spot.
India, seeded No. 5 and placed in group E, is grouped with Algeria, Faroe Islands, Kenya and Sri Lanka, giving the squad a great opportunity to make it to the quarterfinals.
Youngsters like Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat, Alap Mishra among boys and Malvika Bansod and Gayatri Gopichand in girls, are in the fray.
India’s best show so far at the World Juniors has been Saina Nehwal winning the only gold at the 2008 edition when it was held in India.
All the players, who attended a 16-day preparatory camp in Panchkula ,were upbeat before they departed for the Canadian city.
The squads: Boys: Lakshya Sen, Kiran George, Alap Mishra, Priyanshu Rajawat, Dhruv Kapila, G. Krishna Prasad, K. Manjit Singh, K. Dingku Singh, Sai Krishna Sai Kumar, P. Vishnuvardhan Goud, Navneeth Bokka, Akshan Shetty.
Girls: Malvika Bansod, P. Gayatri Gopichand, Purve Bhave, Sahiti Bandi, R. Thanusree, Aditi Bhatt, Tanisha Crasto, K. Ashwini Bhatt, Shrishti Jupaddi, Rashi Lambe.