More Sports Badminton Badminton Rahul: 'We have a good chance at World juniors' The runner-up finish at Pune has given Rahul Bhardwaj much-needed confidence ahead of the BWF World junior badminton championships to be held at Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in October. Ashwin Achal 24 September, 2017 19:48 IST Representative image. - RANJEET KUMAR Ashwin Achal 24 September, 2017 19:48 IST A silver medal at the recent India Junior International Grand Prix at Pune came as an important milestone in Rahul Bhardwaj’s comeback trail. A knee injury, sustained in 2015, had kept him out of action for several months. The runner-up finish at Pune has given Bhardwaj much-needed confidence ahead of the BWF World junior badminton championships to be held at Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in October. “That was a good tournament for me. My world junior ranking has now improved to 120. It was in the 1000’s before the tournament began,” Bhardwaj, who entered the event as a qualifier, said. The 17-year-old is ready to put his injury woes behind him with a good show at the Worlds. “The Indian players are very good. We have a very good chance to win a medal,” he said. The shuttler takes motivation from world No. 2 and fellow Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy trainee Lakshya Sen. “We were playing at the same level for some time, then Lakshya excelled. He’s playing very well. It’s a motivation not just for me, but for everyone to get to his level,” Bhardwaj said. Subscribe to our daily newsletter Get your daily dose of Sportstar with handpicked stories delivered right to your inbox! SUBSCRIBE Please enter a valid email address. Dugout videos