Shuttlers all set for Badminton Junior Asia Championships in Indonesia

Panchkula (Haryana) [India], July 2 : After undergoing a rigorous two-week preparatory training camp at the Tau Devilal Stadium in Panchkula, the 18-member Indian squad are ready to leave for the Badminton Asia Junior Championships to be held in Indonesia from July 7-16.

The 14 days training camp aimed to bolster the team's preparations is supported by Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC Limited), a Maharatna Company under the Ministry of Power along with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to strengthen the development program of the Indian badminton.

BAI and REC partnered two-week training camp that included extensive on-court & fitness training for the preparations

As per the official press release, "We at BAI are extremely delighted to welcome REC Limited and Vivek Dewangan to the Badminton family. This two-week training camp has helped to create a nice build-up ahead of the tournament. I am confident this camp has also helped the team to bond and know each other better. We have a formidable squad that has the abilities to challenge the best. I wish each of them as well as the coaching staff, all the best for the Championships," said Badminton Association of India General Secretary, Sanjay Mishra.

REC Limited in various capacities has been supporting and powering excellence. As part of this partnership with REC Limited, BAI aims to boost development and training programmes that will help in achieving excellence while driving grassroots projects and necessary support systems for badminton in India.

As per the official press release, speaking about the partnership and vision, Vivek Kumar Dewangan, Chief Managing Director, REC Limited said, "The target is to groom and nurture our young players right from sub-junior level. We have to identify the talent and provide them with world-class training facilities and environment so that they can bring medals under Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Our aim is to make sure that the juniors bring medals for the country at the senior level too."

Vivek Dewangan is an avid badminton player and also represented Madhya Pradesh nationally at the under-15 level.

In the group stage, India is pitted in Group C, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage. In the past, India has won two gold medals, one silver and a bronze.

PV Sindhu was the first to claim a gold medal in the 2012 Championships, and Lakshya Sen added to that tally in 2018. This junior tournament is a stepping stone for shuttlers aspiring to grow in the sport.