India shines at Asia Junior Badminton with record medals

India achieved its best-ever performance at the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Championships 2025 in Chengdu, capping off a remarkable campaign with five medals, including two golds. Rising stars Shaina Manimuthu and Diksha Sudhakar led the charge, clinching top honours in their respective singles categories on Sunday.

In the U15 girls’ singles final, Shaina displayed grit and precision to defeat Japan’s Chiharu Tomita 21-14, 22-20 in a thrilling contest that lasted 44 minutes. The young shuttler became only the fourth Indian girl to win the U15 crown, maintaining composure to overcome Tomita’s late resistance in the second game.

Adding to India’s glory, Diksha Sudhakar dominated an all-Indian U17 girls’ singles final, outclassing Lakshya Rajesh 21-16, 21-9 in just 27 minutes. Diksha’s victory marked a historic milestone, as she became the first Indian girl to claim the U17 singles title in the championship’s history.

India’s medal tally stood at two gold, one silver, and two bronze, surpassing the nation’s previous best haul. The bronze medals came through Jagsher Singh Khanggura in boys’ singles and the mixed doubles duo of Jangjeet Singh Kajla and Jananika Ramesh, who impressed with strong performances earlier in the tournament.

The achievement also ended a 12-year wait for a two-gold finish, the last coming in 2013 when Siril Verma, Chirag Shetty, and MR Arjun brought laurels home.