The third edition of the Youth Olympic Games is set to begin in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 6. India will be represented by 49 athletes who will be vying for the medals in different sports. This will be India’s largest contingent for the Games which were first held in 2010. In the previous two editions, India have managed to win 10 medals (seven silver, three bronze). This year, India will be hoping to bring home their first gold medal. The following athletes will be India’s biggest medal hopes at the 2018 Games.
Lakshya Sen
Badminton
A former junior world number, Sen will be India’s biggest hope to return with a gold medal from badminton. He will be participating in the boy’s singles category. With title win at the Asian Junior Badminton Championships 2018, Sen has become the brightest prospect of Indian badminton. He also reached the finals of the 2017 Senior Nationals.
Sen hails from Almora, Uttrakhand and trains at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore.
Jyoti Gulia
Boxing
The 2017 Junior World Champion Jyoti Gulia was also the youngest in the Indian squad which won a unprecedented five gold medals in Guwahati. Jyoti qualified for the Youth Olympic Games from that event and will respresent India in the 51kg category. Recently, she won gold medal at International Silesian Boxing Championships in Poland, silver medal at 36th Vojvodina International tournament in Serbia. She is a multiple time age-level national champion.
Jyoti hails from Rohtak, Haryana and trains at the NBA Academy in Rohtak.
Tababi Devi
Judo
Thangjam Tababi Devi will represent India in the 44kg weight category at the Youth Olympics. She was the Asian cadet champion in 2017 in the same category. She won her second gold medal at the same level at the Cadet and Junior Asian Cup this year. At the continental level, she is a three time champion according to the Internaitonal Judo Federation website.
Tababi hails from Maniur and trains at SAI, Arungabad.
Saurabh Chaudhary
Shooting
A junior world champion, an Asian Games gold medalllist, Saurabh Chaudhary is the rising star of Indian shooting. He will now represent India at the Youth Olympic Games in the boy’s 10m Air Pistol event. He is expected to replicate his recent performances and bring home another gold medal.
Saurabh hails from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh and trains at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.
Manu Bhaker
Shooting
Another shooting prodigy, Manu Bhaker is expected to add a gold medal to India’s tally. Bhaker, who will represent India in the women’s 10m air pistol event has won a medals at all major events she has participated barring the recent Asian Games. At 2017 Asian Junior Championships, she won a silver medal but at the ISSF World Cup 2018 held in Mexico, she returned with two gold medals. She won the women’s 10m air pistol and in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team events. She followed that up with gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She has been named India’s flag-bearer at the Buneos Aires event.
Bhaker hails from Jhajjar, Haryana and trains at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.
Jeremy Lalrununga
Weightlifting
16-year-old Jeremy has been India’s fastest improving weightlifter and will represent India in the 62kg category. He won the silver medal the Youth World Championships in 2016 and added a silver and a bronze medal at the 2018 Youth and Junior Asian Championships. He also has gold medal from the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Weightlifting Championship. In 2018, he broke three junior records and a senior record.
Jeremy hails from Arunachal Pradesh and trains at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala. Previously, he was at the Army Sports Institute.
Mansi Ahlawat
Wrestling
Mansi will represent India at the Youth Olympic Games in the 57kg weight category. After finishing second at the cadet Asian championships in 2018, Mansi added two more age-level medals. She won a 2018 junior Asian championships silver medal in New Delhi before winning a bronze medal at the junior world championships. She is also the national champion in the 57kg category.
Mansi hails from Rohtak and trains at the Chotu Ran Akhada in Rohtak.
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