Ayush Shetty Stuns Shi Yuqi

The opening day of the World Badminton Championships proved memorable for hosts India as 21-year-old Ayush Shetty produced a stunning upset against last year’s champion and Chinese superstar Shi Yuqi. In the men’s singles first round, Shetty defeated the world No.1 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 to advance to the next round. Shetty held his nerve in the deciding game and delivered a remarkable victory against one of the tournament favourites.

India also enjoyed a strong start in several other events. Former world champion and ninth seed PV Sindhu defeated Ireland’s world No.141 Sofia Noble 21-7, 21-11 in straight games in the women’s singles first round. The women’s doubles pairs of Gayatri Gopichand-Treesa Jolly and Simran-Kavipriya, along with the men’s doubles duo of Arjun-Hariharan, also began their campaigns with victories. India thus enjoyed an impressive opening day on home soil.