BWF World Junior Championships 2025: Indian Players Upset Higher Seeds To Reach Quarters

In a thrilling day at the BWF World Junior Championships 2025 in Guwahati, several Indian players made significant strides. Gnana Dattu TT and the mixed doubles team of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo

caused major upsets by defeating higher-ranked opponents. Additionally, Tanvi Sharma, Unnati Hooda, and the boys' doubles pair of Bhargav Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu secured their spots in the quarterfinals.

Gnana Dattu showcased his skills by defeating Garret Tan from the USA, who was seeded eighth. The match ended with scores of 15-12, 15-13 in favour of Dattu. Meanwhile, Bhavya and Vishakha overcame a challenging start to beat the third-seeded French duo Thibault Gardon and Agathe Cuevas with scores of 12-15, 15-11, 15-12.

Top-seeded Tanvi Sharma dominated her match against China's Sun Li Yuan, winning convincingly with scores of 15-8, 15-5. Unnati Hooda also advanced after recovering from an initial setback to defeat Malaysia's Carine Tee with scores of 15-10, 15-7. In their upcoming matches, Tanvi will face Japan's Saki Matsumoto while Unnati is set to play against Thailand's second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak.

The boys' doubles team of Bhargav and Viswa displayed resilience after losing their first game against Yi Hsuan Chen and Chun-Yen Chu from Chinese Taipei. They bounced back to win with scores of 13-15, 15-9, 15-13. Their next challenge will be against Asian Junior champions Chen Jun Ting and Liu Jun Rong.

Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo executed a strategic game plan to upset their French opponents. After losing the first game easily, they adopted an aggressive approach in the second game. The final game was tense as they trailed at one point but managed to secure victory by changing tactics effectively.

Reflecting on his performance against Garret Tan, Gnana Dattu expressed confidence despite facing a more experienced opponent. "Though he has more experience than me because he has played a few senior tournaments, I was confident that I can beat him if I can play at my best and I am happy that I could do that today," said Dattu.

Upcoming Challenges

Dattu will now face Liu Yang Ming Yu from Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals. Liu advanced after defeating Chen Yu Cheng with scores of 15-6, 8-15, 15-10. Meanwhile, Bhavya and Vishakha are set to compete against Hung Bing Fu and Chou Yun An from Chinese Taipei in their next match.

The Indian contingent's performance has been commendable so far. While some players like Rakshitha Sree faced tough losses, others have kept India's hopes alive for potential medals in this prestigious tournament.