BAI to conduct national junior and sub-junior badminton selection trials in August

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) will conduct national junior and sub-junior selection trials in August.

BAI announced on Saturday that the dates and venues for the national selection trials will be declared soon.

The national governing body of sports conducted selection trials for the seniors in April in New Delhi for various tournaments, including the forthcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The BAI will now organize the same selection trials for the age group of 15 to 19 years players. The junior selection committee of BAI will closely watch the performances of the players during the trials before picking up the Indian side.

Based on the performances at the trials, the most talented players will be selected for the TOPS development group and national camp.

The selected players will be eligible to represent the Indian junior team in international competitions until December 2022, according to BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra.

BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra has already forwarded the circular to the affiliated state units mentioning the detailed criteria for the selection process.

BAI forms guidelines for national junior selection trials

As per the guidelines set by the junior selection committee, players will be invited to the national junior selection trials on the basis of performance in the three domestic tournaments.

The first All India Junior Rankings tournament after a gap of nearly three years post-pandemic was held in Bengaluru in April.

The second Under-19 tournament is currently going on in Panchkula, Haryana. It will conclude on July 13. After a day’s gap, the third All India Junior Ranking tournament will be held in Goa from July 15 to 21.

The BAI will shortlist the players after analyzing the performance of all three tournaments. Their overall All India ranking after the completion of the three tournaments will be considered for finalizing the list.

The top four in both U-19 boys and girls singles events will be invited for the trials. Similarly, the top two pairs of the U-19 boys, girls and mixed doubles will make the cut for the trials.

BAI to hold trials for the U-15 and U-17 categories too

The BAI will also hold selection trials simultaneously for the U-15 and U-17 age groups on the basis of two tournaments.

The All-India Sub-Junior U-15 and U-17 ranking tournament was held in Panchkula in January 2022. The second tournament will be held in Goa from July 23 to 30.

The singles finalists and the winning pairs of both the tournaments will be asked to appear for the selection trials.

The BAI will also invite the top 20 players as per the BWF rankings. Singles, doubles and mixed doubles players who are ranked in the world’s top 20 will automatically be eligible for the selection trials.

“The BAI was applauded for conducting fair selection trials for the seniors at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi from April 15 to 20. On similar lines, we are planning to hold selection trials for the sub-junior and junior categories. We want to give a fair chance to the deserving players and select the best Indian team,” a top BAI official told Sportskeeda on Saturday.

According to BAI sources, the venue and final dates of the selection trials will be announced after the completion of the Goa tournaments.