BWF World Junior Championships 2025: India Drawn in Group H for Suhandinata Cup

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Friday that the draw for the BWF World Junior Championships 2025 - Suhandinata Cup (Mixed Team Event) has been finalized. The event is scheduled to take place at the National Centre of Excellence, Amingaon, Guwahati, from October 6 to 11, 2025. India, seeded second, will participate in Group H alongside Hong Kong China, Nepal, and Ghana. This significant global junior team event is returning to India for the first time since 2008 and will feature 37 teams from various countries. Winners from each group will proceed to the quarter-finals.

Top-seeded Thailand finds itself in Group A with Denmark, Slovenia, and Cook Islands. Meanwhile, defending champions Indonesia will face Turkiye, Romania, and the Netherlands in Group C, with 14-time champions China competing against Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and Bhutan in Group E. A new relay format will be tested this year. In this format, matches consist of best-of-three sets, where a team reaching 45 points first wins a set. Each set comprises men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles matches, commencing sequentially as soon as nine points are reached by one team.

Previously, the relay format was set with a race to 110 points across 10 matches in a single set. For Indian participants, medalists from the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2025 will automatically qualify, while other positions will be determined by selection trials scheduled from August 9 to 13, 2025, at the same venue. Eligible players include those meeting BAI ranking standards, Indian shuttlers ranked in the BWF World Junior Top 20, and juniors in the BWF Senior Top 50 as of July 29, 2025. Following the Suhandinata Cup, individual events will take place in Guwahati from October 13 to 19, 2025.

(With inputs from agencies.)