Ningbo (China), April 8 India's Ayush Shetty stunned world No. 7 Lin Shi Feng of China with a straight-game victory to advance to the second round of the men's singles competition at the Badminton Asia Championships here on Wednesday.
World No. 25 Ayush, who had won the US Open Super 300 title last year, registered a 21-13, 21-16 victory in 51 minutes.
Lin initially took a 4-1 lead, but Ayush responded to level the score at 7-7 before gradually gaining control and winning the first game.
After the change of sides, Lin once again took the lead 4-1 and extended it to 12-9, but Ayush countered with a six-point burst to reach 18-13.
Lin narrowed the gap to 16-18, but Ayush remained calm and defeated his highly-rated opponent.
Top stars such as PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy will begin their campaigns later in the day.
Dinesh Khanna remains the only Indian to have won the men's singles gold at the continental meet in 1965, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed the doubles crown in 2023.