Sameer Verma, Sindhu inducted in World Juniors` squad

Mumbai: Sameer Verma, a silver medallist at the Asian Junior Championships, and P V Sindhu have been named in a 13-member squad for the World Junior Badminton Championships slated for October.

The seven boys and six girls picked for the October 28 to November 6 tournament would undergo Three to four-week training under chief national junior coach Sanjeev Sachdev at the new badminton facility at Lucknow, said Badminton Association of India`s (BAI`s) secretary-general Dr Vijai Sinha. While Verma , who hails from Madhya Pradesh, was defeated by eventual champion and elder brother Saurabh at the NSCI All India Ranking tournament that concluded here on Wednesday, Kerala-born Sindhu -- bronze medallist at the Asian Juniors -- skipped the event to concentrate on the Forthcoming international encounters. The BAI selection committee headed by its president Dr Akhilesh Dasgupta has also announced national squad for the October 5-9 Badminton Asia Youth Under 15 and Under 17 Championships to be held at Chiba in Japan. The two teams are as follows: For World Juniors: Boys: Sameer Verma (NP), Pratul Joshi (AI), Rohit C Jadhav, K Srikant (both AP), Shivam Sharma (UP), P Gopi Raju and T Hema Nagendra Babu (both AP). Girls: Saili Rane (AI), Gauri Ghate (Mah), P V Sindhu (PSPB), Tanvi Lad (AI), K Mansha (AP), Aarthi Sara Sunil (Ker). Coaches: Sanjeev Sachdev, Sudhir Kumar Singh, Abhinn Shyam Gupta. For Badminton Asia under-17, under-15 championships: Boys (Under-17): Aditya Joshi (AI), Harshal Dani (AI), Shyam Prasad (Ker), Shiokh Ramachandra (Mah). Girls (Under-17): Rituparna Das (WB), K Vijetha , K Maneesha (both AP), Poorvisha S Ram (Kar). Boys (Under-15): Lara Talar (ALP), Daniel Afridi (Kar), Ansal Yadav (UP), Siril Verma (AP), Saurabh Sharma (Har). Girls (Under-15): Ruthvika Shivani (AP), Kata Katre, Shikha Gautam, Sanjana Santosh, Karishma Wadekar (all Mah). Coaches: D K Sen and Sudhakar Reddy. Meanwhile, BAI has decided to felicitate World Championships bronze medallist duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa "at an appropriate time", said Sinha. "We will also be felicitating Sameer Verma and Sindhu who won the silver and bronze medals (respectively) at the last Asian Junior Championships in Lucknow," he said. Lucknow would also host the USD 50,000 prize money Syed Modi Memorial India GP event from December 20-25, added Sinha. PTI