The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced the group draw for the BWF World Junior Team Championships 2025 Suhandinata Cup (Mixed Team Event), to be hosted at the National Centre of Excellence (NCE), Amingaon, Guwahati from October 6 to 11, 2025.
Second-seeded India will compete in Group H, drawn alongside Hong Kong China, Nepal, and Ghana a pool that offers the hosts a promising path to the knockout stages. The winners of each group will progress to the quarter-finals of this prestigious global junior team event, which returns to India for the first time since 2008.
A total of 37 teams will take part, representing a wide spectrum of badminton talent from across the world.
The Group Draw in Full
•Group A: Thailand, Denmark, Slovenia, Cook Islands
•Group B: Chinese Taipei, UAE, Canada, England, Norway
•Group C: Indonesia, Türkiye, Romania, Netherlands
•Group D: Poland, USA, Hungary, Ireland, Philippines
•Group E: China, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Bhutan
•Group F: Malaysia, Australia, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Vietnam
•Group G: France, Korea, Portugal, Egypt, Uganda
•Group H: India, Hong Kong China, Nepal, Ghana
Top seeds Thailand headline Group A with a mix of European and Oceania opposition, while defending champions Indonesia are placed in Group C alongside Türkiye, Romania, and the Netherlands. Fourteen-time winners China will face one of their main modern rivals, Japan, in Group E, which also includes Singapore, Brazil, and Bhutan.
New Relay Format on Trial
One of the major talking points this year is the introduction of a revised relay format.
In the updated system, matches will be played as best-of-three sets, with a team needing 45 points in a set to claim it. Each set will be made up of five disciplines men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The twist is that the action flows from one discipline to the next without resetting the score: the first match ends when a team reaches nine points, after which the next discipline begins, carrying on the score until 45 points is reached.
This marks a change from the previous system, which involved a single race to 110 points across 10 matches. The updated approach aims to keep matches shorter, more intense, and more strategic, placing a premium on versatility across all events.
India’s Selection Process
For the Indian squad, the road to the Suhandinata Cup begins with selection trials from August 9 to 13, 2025, also at the NCE in Guwahati. Automatic qualification has been granted to medalists from the Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2025, while the remaining positions will be contested in the trials. Eligibility includes:
•Players meeting BAI ranking cut-offs.
•Indian shuttlers ranked in the BWF World Junior Top 20.
•Juniors ranked in the BWF Senior Top 50 as of July 29, 2025.
•All members of India’s squad for the WONDR Badminton Asia Junior Championships 2025, except medalists who already have direct entry.
The trials are expected to bring together the country’s most promising U19 talent, with coaches and selectors keen to identify a balanced mix of singles and doubles strength that suits the relay format.
Home Advantage in Guwahati
Hosting the Suhandinata Cup provides India with a rare home advantage on the global junior stage. The National Centre of Excellence in Amingaon, a state-of-the-art training hub, will serve as the competition venue for both the team event (October 6–11) and the individual events (October 13–19).
The last time India hosted the BWF World Junior Championships was in Pune, 2008, where the sport was still emerging as a junior powerhouse domestically. Since then, India has made significant strides, producing multiple world-class players from the junior ranks, including PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
Favorable but Competitive Path Ahead
While Group H appears less daunting than some of the others, India will need to remain focused. Hong Kong China has a history of producing technically strong juniors, while Nepal and Ghana will be looking to make an impact against higher-ranked teams.
Given the single-qualifier format from each group, there will be little margin for error. For India, a clean sweep in the group stage will be crucial to avoid tiebreak scenarios on points difference.
India enters the tournament as the second seed, which is a reflection of recent results at the junior level and the depth in the squad. A deep run at the Suhandinata Cup would not only be a boost for India’s standing in junior badminton but also provide invaluable experience for young shuttlers on the path to senior-level competition.
With a supportive home crowd, an upgraded venue, and a squad that will be chosen from one of the strongest junior pools in recent years, the Indian team will have every incentive to perform at its peak.
