Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty staged another upset at the Badminton Asia Championships as he stormed into the semi-finals after beating world No. 4 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia at Ningbo Olympic Sports Center in Beijing on April 10. Ayush registered a 23-21, 21-17 win over Olympian and third seed Christie to become the first Indian since HS Prannoy in 2018 to secure a medal at the continental meet. This was Ayush’s first win over Christie in their maiden encounter. It will also be India’s first medal at the Badminton Asia Championships since Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s men’s doubles gold in 2023.
In the semi-finals, Ayush will take on the winner of the match between Paris 2024 silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and Weng Hongyang.
The opening game was fiercely contested, as neither player was able to break clear Christie heading into the break with a slender 11-10 lead. After resumption, the Indonesian took control of the game, stretching his advantage to 18-15 and even earning a game point before Ayush produced a fightback and forced the contest into a tie-break.
The second game was equally hard-fought with the Indian carrying a slender 11-9 advantage into the interval before tightening his grip on the contest and closing it out to book his place in the semi-finals.
Earlier, Ayush had stunned world No. 7 and reigning Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng in the opening round before beating Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei to qualify for the quarter-finals. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s campaign ended in the second round while Lakshya Sen bowed out in the opening round.
