Senior shutters send wishes to Juniors as they leave for Badminton Junior Asia Championships

Indian senior badminton champions extend their wishes to the Junior team as they leave for Indonesia to participate in the Junior Asia Championships.

In a video shared by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on their official Twitter Handle, Indian shutters, including Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Chirag Shetty and PV Sindhu, were seen sending across their wishes for the Junior Badminton team for the Championships.

The Indian junior team underwent rigorous training for two weeks before their departure. The 14-day training took place at the Tau Devilal Stadium in Panchkula. The athletes underwent on-court training as well as fitness training during this 14-day camp. The camp was important to build unity amongst the Indian team ahead of the Championships.

India is currently placed in Group C in the Junior Asia Championships. They will face Malaysia, Bangladesh and Hong Kong in the league matches. The teams which finish top two will make it to the knock-out stage of the Championships.

Indian team consists of 18 members. The team will see four boys and four girls for the respective singles tournament. The team also features two sets of doubles teams in both men's and women's. Two sets of mixed doubles teams as well.

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India's record in Junior Asia Championships

The first-ever Asia Junior Championship began in 1997. However, it took India several years to clinch a medal in the Championships. PV Sindhu was the first ever Indian to win a gold medal in the Junior Asia Championships. She achieved this feat in 2012.

In 2018, Lakshya Sen became the first ever Indian to win a gold medal in the men's singles category.

In 22 editions so far, China has won 84 gold medals and a total of 201 medals in the Championships. South Korea has won the second most Gold Medals with 19 to their name. Indonesia has won 15 gold medals, 12 silver medals and 56 bronze medals over the years.