The Indian badminton team will look to build on its historic bronze medal from last year when the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2026 gets underway in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday.
The mixed team competition, also known as the Suhandinata Cup, will be held from October 5 to 10 at the Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex. The competition is for junior badminton players under the age of 19.
India won their maiden medal at the World Junior Mixed Team Championships with a bronze at Guwahati 2025.
India also won a silver medal in the individual competition last year through Tanvi Sharma, who finished runner-up in the girls’ singles. Tanvi, however, is not part of the Indian squad for the 2026 edition.
BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2026: Indian badminton team
- Boys’ singles: Nishchal Chand, Dev Ruparelia, Jagsher Singh Khangurra, Akhil Reddy Bobba
- Girls’ singles: Parul Choudhary, Tanvi Reddy Andluri, Shaina Manimuthu, Tanvi Patri
- Boys’ doubles: Aathish Sreenivas PV/Yogansh Singh, Pavan Suresh/Punith Suresh
- Girls’ doubles: Aanya Bisht/Angel Punera, Diya Bheemaiah B/Baruni Parshwal
- Mixed doubles: Divyansh Agrawal/Varna Prabhuanand, Yogansh Singh/Aanya Bisht
The World Junior Championships date back to 1992, while the mixed team competition for the Suhandinata Cup was introduced in 2000.
Following the latest redraw, necessitated by the withdrawals of Nigeria and Macau China, India have been placed in Group D1 alongside Peru and Algeria. Group D2 comprises Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.
Unlike the 2025 edition, where teams competed in conventional groups, most groups in Cairo have been split into two sub-groups.
Once the round-robin matches within each sub-group are completed, teams finishing in the same position will face each other. The first-placed teams from the two sub-groups will meet to determine the group winner, who will progress to the quarter-finals.
A total of 47 teams will compete in the mixed team event. Defending champions the People’s Republic of China are in Group E1, while top seeds Malaysia headline Group A1 and second seeds Thailand are in Group H1.
The Indian squad will be spearheaded by Tanvi Patri, who won the girls’ singles Under-17 title at the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships last month.
Tanvi beat compatriot Shaina Manimuthu in the final. India Junior International Grand Prix winner Dev Ruparelia is also in the 18-member squad.
The Suhandinata Cup will be played under the new 3×55 relay scoring system this year.
Each tie will be a best-of-three-set contest, with the first team to 55 points winning a set. Each set consists of boys’ singles, girls’ singles, boys’ doubles, girls’ doubles and mixed doubles, with play switching at the 11, 22, 33, 44 and 55-point milestones.
The mixed team event will be followed by the individual BWF World Junior Championships from October 11 to 17 at the same venue.
Where to watch BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2026 live in India
Live streaming of the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2026 will be available on the BWF YouTube channel. The event will not be telecast live on any TV channel in India.
