India’s teen stars raring to go at the Youth Olympics

New Delhi: Youth Olympic Games offer glimpses of future champions. The Dakar 2026 Summer Games starting on Saturday will be an opportunity for 17 Indian athletes to show their promise. Manu Bhaker, Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy are among several star Indian sportspersons who unveiled their potential at the Youth Olympics in the previous three editions. They all made the most of their cracking start on the international stage.

In the three editions starting in 2010, India have won 23 medals at the Youth Olympics. However, compared to 46 athletes from the last edition in 2018, India are sending a team of 17 athletes in 11 disciplines.

The number of allocated quotas are fewer this time and with sports like shooting not being part of the programme, India will look for medals in boxing, badminton and archery among others. A tough international competition early on would help these athletes grow in confidence as they transition to the senior level in the next few years.

In badminton, Tanvi Patri has shown early promise in age-group international tournaments. Patri won the singles U17 title in Badminton Asia Junior Championships recently. The 15-year-old also won the Pontianak International Challenge in Indonesia beating two senior top 100 players. Dev Rupareila will compete in the men’s competition.

Shourya Ambure, the 17-year-old hurdler, will be another athlete from the Indian contingent to watch out for. The teenager from Thane has been taking impressive strides winning silver in the 100m hurdles at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain recently. She also has a bronze at the Asian Youth Championships.

Swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, a 16-year-old, has been making waves in the pool in domestic circuit and has already competed at the Paris Olympics in 200m freestyle and the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. She will take part in the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley in Dakar, hoping to learn and improve. Assam’s Tirthank Pegu will compete in men’s 100m and 200m butterfly.

Archer Gatha Khadke already knows the heat of battle at the very top. At the senior World Championships last year, she made it to the last-16 stage, losing to Lim Si-hyeon of South Korea, who won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics. Gatha was part of the Indian team with seasoned Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat that gave a tough fight to Olympic champions South Korea losing in the bronze medal match last year. She will carry immense confidence into her game, and a medal at the Youth Olympics will put her in the right mindset to aim high.

Beach wrestling is not a popular sport in India but the four wrestlers representing India — Antra (65kg), Taniya (75kg) Deepanshu Khokhar (men’s 80kg), and Anuj (70kg) — have participated at the U17 World Wrestling Championships and it will be a good exposure for them.

In boxing India have secured only two quotas and Gunjan (women’s boxing 48kg) and Lairenlakpama Ambekar (men’s 50kg) will look to make the most of it.

Promising Syndrela Das has qualified in table tennis. She came to spotlight after beating Manika Batra in Ultimate Table Tennis League, and then completed a double at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Kanpur winning the U19 and women’s singles titles. She was also part of the Indian team at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.