The women's individual event will precede the women's World Junior Team Championships (Aug 3-8), the biennial event which is held in alternate years to the men's junior team championships.

For the first time, the men's junior world championship will be held concurrently from this year following the World Squash Federation's plans to run men's and women's individual world junior championships annually from this year, staged alongside the biennial team championship.

Heading the men's draw is top seed and defending champion Mohammed El Shorbagy from Egypt who is expected to become only the second player in history to win the men's crown twice since compatriot Ramy Ashour's feat in 2004 2006.

The 18-year-old favourite from Alexandria has already enjoyed a meteoric run in the sport. He boasts a senior world top 20 ranking following notable success on the PSA World Tour which has included final berths in the recent Spanish Open and Irish Open and a quarter-final finish in last year's World Open in his maiden appearance in the sport's premier championship.

El Shorbagy's predicted final opponent is Malaysian Ivan Yuen. Winner of the recent Asian Junior Championship title, also in Chennai, the second seed from Selangor made his debut in the world's top 100 in May.

Regarding India's hopes in the men's event, Poncha said: 'At best, it will be an excellent exposure and experience for our boys. We have fielded 12 promising juniors, most of whom would be eligible for the next World championship. We are hoping that the tournament will prove beneficial to them.'

In all, players from 28 nations, including Pakistan, will be participating in the five-day individual events that will be formally inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Pratik Prakashbapu Patil.