Newly appointed Maharashtra U-19 badminton coach Mangirish Palekar, 46, is confident his wards can return with medals from the Junior National Championships to be held in Gangtok, Sikkim, from November 14 to 21.

“I had taken the senior team for the championships in Vijayawada last year, and the junior team also largely comprises the same players. They may be young, but they’re already very good players. We are expecting to reach the semi-finals and win a team medal. I’m also very confident that our shuttlers can bring back multiple individual medals, even gold,” Palekar, a Dadar resident, who represented India at the 1998 Asian Championships, told mid-day.