New Delhi: Giant-killer Ayush Shetty produced the biggest upset of the BWF World Championships, stunning world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in a thrilling battle to seal a memorable win and storm into the men’s singles second round, while PV Sindhu also advanced comfortably in the women’s singles here Monday.
Shetty, who became India’s first men’s singles finalist at the Badminton Asia Championships since 1965, continued his giant-killing run by adding Shi to his list of high-profile victims. The 21-year-old had defeated Li Shi Feng, Jonatan Christie and Kunlavut Vitidsarn en route to a silver medal at the continental championships in April.
Shetty, who won the 2025 US Open Super 300, defeated Shi 21-14 13-21 21-19 in a gripping first round contest that went down to the wire with the Chinese giving a fight till the last moment.
The Karnataka shuttler was quick to get off the blocks and race to a 11-5 lead in the first game pumped up by the home support.
Shetty’s court coverage, retrievals and smashes were perfect as Shi found it difficult to counter his less fancied opponent, who pocketed the first game. The Indian was also helped by the Chinese’s unforced errors as he either found the net or sent the shuttle wide on numerous occasions in the opening game.
But Shi was in no mood to give up without a fight and used his experience to great effect to tire out Shetty with long rallies as errors crept up in the Indian’s game with defending champion forcing a decider.
Shetty, however, was not overawed by the occasion as he got his acts together and kept his heal calm.
Shetty was clever in the final game, and got the momentum back by just trying to keep the shuttle inside the court and drawing errors from his opponent, which did happen as he raced to 11-5 lead at the final break of the match.
He extended his lead to 15-5 before Shi made a remarkable comeback to narrow the margin 20-15 with Ayush committing unnecessary errors.
Shi pocketed four straight points to reduce the margin to 20-19 before Shetty holding his nerves to pocket the match and register the biggest win of his nascent career.
Easy outing for Sindhu
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu began her bid for a historic sixth World Championships medal on a rousing note, outclassing Ireland’s Sophia Noble in straight games.
Seeded ninth, Sindhu made light work of Noble, winning 21-7, 21-11.
The Indian has two bronze medals, two silver medals and a gold, which she had won in 2019, to her name.
A semifinal appearance at the ongoing marquee event would assure her of at least a bronze and make her the first player in World Championships history to win six medals.
Only two other players have won five World Championships medals — China’s Lin Dan, who has five men’s singles gold, and compatriot Zhao Yunlei, who won three mixed doubles and two women’s doubles titles.
Sindhu toyed with her less-fancied opponent from the outset, wrapping up the contest with ease in 29 minutes.
She dominated from start to finish, making her opponent struggle to cover the court with her experience and patient game plan, drawing unforced errors from Noble to race 11-2 lead at the break in the first game before pocketing it comfortably.
Sindhu, however, faced resistance in the second game as Noble upped her game to stay neck-and-neck with the Indian before Sindhu used her experience to go into the break with a 11-8 lead.
After the break, Sindhu didn’t give her opponent any breathing space, dominating the rallies with clever drop shots and smashes to close out the match with a delicate backhand drop from the net.
“I started off well, with a big lead. I did give 2-3 points here an there but I was able to maintain the lead. It was a good start for me and I was comfortable throughout,” Sindhu said after the win
“In the first half of the second game I was trying a bit of my drops and half smashes which were going a little bit out. But it is fine to try out things when you are leading,” she added.
Sindhu will next face Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang, who beat Bulgaria’s Stefani Stoeva 21-7 21-19 to advance.
Jolly-Gayatri, Hariharan-Arjun advance
Commonwealth Games bronze medalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand too had an easy first-round outing, beating Spanish pair of Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez 21-9, 21-13 in the women’s doubles.
The Indian duo 16th seeds Laurem Lam and Allison Quynh Lee of the United States.
In the first Indian match of the event, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun progressed to the second round after their opponents Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds retired in the game trailing 21-16, 6-4 in men’s doubles.
They will next play 15th seeds Min Hyuk Kang and Dong Ju Ki of Korea, who got a bye in the first round.
The star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded fifth, have got a bye into the second round where they will face Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle.
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