China
Rising star Ayush Shetty assured India of a medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China with a 23-21, 21-17 win over World No. 4 and Olympian Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the men’s singles quarterfinals on Friday.
Twenty-year-old Shetty, who had won the BWF World Junior Championships bronze medal in 2023, displayed remarkable composure under pressure as he saved two game points in the opening game, missed one himself before pocketing the game 23-21.
The second game saw both players level scores multiple times, before Shetty nosed ahead at 10-9. From there, the Indian maintained his lead and closed out the match 21-17 in 54 minutes and set up a semi-final clash against world no. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Ayush hasn’t dropped a game in the tournament so far and had packed off world no 7 Li Shi Feng, World no. 7 of China and Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen in the earlier two rounds.
