India’s junior squash aspirations receive a fresh impetus as prominent talent Aryaveer Dewan is set to lead a 32-member Indian contingent at the Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships, scheduled in Panzhihua, China, from May 20 to 24. This team, drawn from age categories ranging from U-11 to U-19, carries the ambition of surpassing India’s previous medal tally and sustaining the country’s rising stature in Asia’s premier junior squash arena.
Dewan, fresh from ending a 13-year drought for India by winning the U-17 title at the 2025 Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships, moves up to the **U-19 division where he is seeded third. His gold-medal performance in 2025 saw him dominate Malaysia’s Nikhileswar Moganasundharam 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 in straight games in the final — a result that underlined his rapid development and leadership credentials.
Reinforcing India’s medal hopes, the junior squad includes several seeded players across categories. In the Boys U-13 draw, both Abhyuday Arora and Amarya Bajaj carry 3/4 seed status, while Shresht Iyer enters the Boys U-15 competition as the second seed. In the girls’ bracket, Divyanshi Jain, seeded second in Girls U-13, and Aadya Budhia, seeded 3/4 in Girls U-15, are projected to put up strong performances. The Girls U-19 group features a quartet of promising names including Unnati Tripathi, Eesha Shrivastava, Akanksha Gupta and Vyomika Khandelwal.
India’s previous outing at the Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in 2025 yielded a seventh-medal haul comprising two gold, two silver and three bronze, with Dewan’s U-17 gold and strong finishes in several age groups. This result was one of the best in India’s recent junior squash history and sets a high benchmark for the current squad.
Officials accompanying the team include experienced coordinators such as Mekhala Srivastava, Surbhi Misra, Avinash Bhavnani and Saatvik Joshi, ensuring both logistical support and strategic guidance. With a blend of experienced juniors and emerging talent, India enters the championships with realistic hopes of claiming multiple podium finishes.
“Our objective is clear,” said an Indian team spokesperson ahead of departure. “We have strength across categories, and each seeded player brings the confidence to challenge for medals. We aim to better our medal count from last year and make India proud.” The championships, featuring stiff competition from traditional Asian powerhouses such as Malaysia and Pakistan, will be a critical barometer of India’s junior squash progress.
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