Asian Junior champion Lakshya Sen, and rising doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga are carrying India’s biggest hopes of winning a medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships 2018, beginning on Monday in Markham, Canada.

The Indian squad was dealt a blow even before the players departed for Canada as junior world No 4 Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka was forced to pull out with health concerns. Vaishnavi, along with Lakshya, had secured an automatic entry into the Indian squad on account of her world ranking, but then could not attend the national camp in Panchkula because of her health.

“She had some health issues after getting vaccinated for yellow fever ahead of the Youth Olympics [in Argentina],” said India’s chief junior coach Sanjay Mishra. “There were some side-effects because of the vaccination. She was hospitalised.”

The 23-member Indian squad will now look to Lakshya and Dhruv-Krishna for inspiration ahead of the team championships, which take place first ahead of the individual event. India are seeded fifth in the team championships and placed in group E, along with Algeria, Faroe Islands, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Reaching the quarter-finals should not be a concern for India from this group.

In the quarters, India could meet South Korea, against whom they lost at the same stage last year. Mishra expects a better show this time.

“We are expecting a medal in the team championships,” he said. “Last time we lost in the quarters and came sixth but hopefully we should reach the semi-finals this time.”

In the individual championships, the pressure of expectations will be on 17-year-old Lakshya, who has already represented the senior India team at the Thomas Cup earlier this year apart from winning medals in junior events.

Mishra, however, is confident that the youngster will return with a medal.

“He won the Asian Juniors where he faced his main competitors, who are from Asian countries,” the chief coach said.

“Then, he won the silver at the Youth Olympics, so that would have given him a confidence boost. We expect a medal from him in individual championship and also hope he can help us win one in the team championship.”

Junior world No 8 pair Dhruv and Krishna are India’s second-biggest medal hopes. The 18-year-olds won both selection tournaments for the World Juniors, along with the Kharkiv International title on the international senior circuit. They had also finished runner-up at the Dutch Junior earlier this year.

“Manjit Singh-Dingku Singh and Srikrishna Sai Kumar Podile-Vishnu Vardhan Goud are also playing well, but Dhruv and Krishna are a pair who can win a medal,” said Mishra.

As for the women, Mishra praised singles players Malvika Bansod and Gayatri Gopichand, who have impressed in selection tournaments, as future prospects.

Gayatri, who is just 15 years old, put in impressive performances this year, reaching the semi-finals of a senior ranking tournament, which got her picked in the Asian Games squad. The 17-year-old Malvika Bansod, on the other hand, won both selection tournaments for the World Juniors.

“Gayatri is playing really well, she won in practice matches during the national camp,” said Mishra. “However, we can’t expect a medal from her because she is still young. Malvika also does not have too much international exposure but both of them should perform well.”

Overall, Mishra is confident India will do better than the previous edition, where the country’s shuttlers failed to win a single medal.

India’s best showing at the event so far was in 2008, when Saina Nehwal won gold in India. No other Indian has managed to bag the yellow metal after her at the World Juniors.

“Last year we did not win a single medal but hopefully that won’t be the case this time,” Mishra said.

India squad:

Boys: Lakshya Sen, Kiran George, Alap Mishra, Priyanshu Rajawat, Dhruv Kapila, G Krishna Prasad, Manjit Singh, Dingku Singh, Srikrishna Sai Kumar Podile, P Vishnuvardhan Goud, Navneeth Bokka, Akshan Shetty.

Girls: Malvika Bansod, P Gayatri Gopichand, Purve Bhave, Sahiti Bandi, R Thanusree, Aditi Bhatt, Tanisha Crasto, K Ashwini Bhatt, Shrishti Jupaddi, Rashi Lambe.