Youth Olympics 2018: Full list of athletes in the Indian contingent

India has sent a strong contingent of 47 athletes across 13 sports as the third edition of the Summer Youth Olympics is all set to begin in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 6. This is India’s largest contingent ever at this quadrennial multi-sporting event that will see many of the country’s future stars vying for gold medals in 37 disciplines over the 13-day period.

The increase in number of qualifiers from 32 in the past two editions to 47 this time hints at the growth and development of sports in India at the junior level. That is also the reason why India will have a good chance of winning its first ever gold medal from this prestigious tournament this time.

In 2010, India grabbed six silver medals and two bronze. Most of the medallists from that inaugural edition went on to become champions in their respective sports. Yuki Bhambri, HS Prannoy, Pooja Dhanda, Shiva Thapa, Arjun, Durgesh Kumar won silver whereas Vikas Krishan Yadav and Satyawart Kadian ended up with the bronze.

In the next edition four years later, India had to be content with just a silver and a bronze. Weightlifter Venkat Rahul Ragala took home the lone silver medal while archer Atul Verma bagged the bronze.

This time the hopes are high as some of the competitors have already established themselves in their respective fields and will aim to bring laurels for their country. Commonwealth Games gold medallist shooter Manu Bhaker will be the flag bearer for India.

And she isn’t the only one who will look to strike gold in Argentina. The shooting squad also has the likes of Asian Games gold medallist Saurabh Chaudhary, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mehuli Ghosh, along with Tushar Mane.

Badminton will see Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen aiming for the gold. Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka will be one to watch out for in the women’s section.

Manav Thakkar, who finished as the runner-up in the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals, will gun for glory in table tennis. He etched his name in the record books by becoming the first Indian paddler to be ranked No. 1 when he shot to the top position in the under-18 category.

World youth champion in 51kg, Jyoti Gulia is the solitary Indian representation in boxing. She has already given glimpses of her immense talent and will look forward to continuing her success.

This time India is making its debut in two sports -- field hockey 5s and sport climbing.

While the host nation Argentina will be fielding 141 athletes, four other nations -- France, Russia, Mexico, and Japan -- have sent over 90 athletes each.

Here’s the full list of Indian athletes at the Youth Olympics 2018:

Archery - Akash, Himani

Athletics - Nisar Ahmed, Sreekiran Nandakumar, Suraj Panwar, Aparna Roy, Vishnupriya Jayaprakashan, Seema, Praveen Chitravel, Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana

Badminton - Lakshya Sen, Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka

Boxing - Jyoti Gulia

Field hockey - Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Shivam Anand, Maninder Singh, Pawan, Rabichandra Singh Moirangathem, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Sanjay, Sudeep Chirmako (Boys’ 5s)

Salima Tete, Reet, Sangita Kumari, Lalremsiami, Khushboo, Ishika Chaudhary, Mumtaz Khan, Chetna, Bichu Devi Kharibam (Girls’ 5s)

Judo - Tababi Devi

Rowing - Satnam Singh, Ashish Goliyan

Shooting - Tushar Mane, Manu Bhaker, Mehuli Ghosh, Saurabh Chaudhary

Sport climbing - Bharath Pereira

Swimming - Srihari Nataraj, Advait Page

Table tennis - Manav Thakkar, Archana Kamath

Weightlifting - Jeremy Lalrinunga, Sneha Soren

Wrestling - Simran, Mansi