Ningbo (China), April 8 – Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty stunned World No. 7 Li Shi Feng with a dominant straight-game victory to advance to the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships on Wednesday.
Shetty defeated the fifth-seeded Chinese player 21-13, 21-16 in a match that lasted 51 minutes at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center. This was Shetty's first career match against the 2023 All England Open winner. He will next play World No. 20 Chi Yu Jen of Taipei for a spot in the quarterfinals.
This is not the first time that World No. 25 Shetty has defeated a higher-ranked player. Last year, he staged a remarkable comeback to beat World No. 6 Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the US Open semi-final and went on to win the title after defeating Brian Yang of Canada.
Earlier, India's top mixed doubles pair, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, had a winning start to their campaign on Day 1. The Indian pair defeated Thailand's Phuwanat Horbanluekit and Benyapa Aimsaard 21-14, 11-21, 21-15.
In other mixed doubles results, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh lost to Malaysia's Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-16, 21-15, while Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani were defeated by eighth seeds Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie, 21-13, 21-19.
Meanwhile, top Indian singles players, PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, will be competing later in the day. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu will open her campaign against Wong Ling Ching of Malaysia in the round of 32.
Three other Indian women singles players – Unnati Hooda, Malvika Bansod, and Tanvi Sharma – are also in the main draw and are expected to start their campaigns on Wednesday.
In men's singles, Thomas Cup winner H.S. Prannoy will start against World No. 62, Nguyen Hai Dang of Vietnam, while young Ayush Shetty will meet fifth seed Li Shi Feng of China, the 2023 All-England champion, in the first round.