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New Delhi, October 15, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India's Jagsher Singh Khangurra has assured himself of a medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships after staging a comeback victory over Chinese Taipei's Yuan-Syue Jhuang to reach the boys' singles semifinals in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday.
The 17-year-old shuttler from Nabha in Punjab recovered from losing the opening game to beat Jhuang 6-15, 17-15, 15-12 in a 48-minute quarterfinal, becoming only the ninth Indian player to secure a podium finish in the boys' singles category at the tournament.
India have so far won one gold, five silver and six bronze medals in the boys' singles event at the World Junior Championships. The 14th-seeded Jagsher will now face Indonesia's 31st seed Radithya Bayu Wardhana in the semifinals on Saturday, with a place in the final at stake.
India's hopes of securing another medal in the girls' singles category ended after Shaina Manimuthu, the Asian U17 silver medalist, lost 15-5, 15-8 to China's Yi Qing Yin in the quarterfinals.
Jagsher, a former national under-17 champion and an Asian medalist in his age group, has steadily emerged as one of India's promising young badminton players. He first attracted attention with a medal at the under-15 national championships two years ago and has continued to make progress since then.
After beginning his training at an academy in Bahadurgarh, Jagsher moved to the Uday Pawar Academy in Mumbai. For the past two years, he has been training at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru under former national coach Vimal Kumar.
According to rankings dated September 22, 2026, Jagsher was ranked eighth in the under-19 boys' singles category. He had earlier reached the top spot in the national under-17 boys' singles rankings during the week beginning January 11, 2026.
Jagsher began playing badminton at the age of seven and left home at 11 to join the academy in Bahadurgarh to pursue the sport more seriously. He has since won six medals in international tournaments, establishing himself as one of the country's leading young shuttlers.
His parents are both government school teachers, and Jagsher is the first member of his family to pursue badminton.