Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Ayush Shetty upset World No. 7 Li Shi Feng with a dominant straight-games win to sail into the second round of the Badminton Asia Championships on April 8. Ayush registered a 21-13, 21-16 win over fifth-seed Chinese in a match that lasted 51 minutes at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center in Beijing. This was Ayush’s first career meeting with the 2023 All England Open winner. He will next play world No. 20 Chi Yu Jen of Taipei for a place in the quarterfinals.
This is not the first time that world no. 25 Ayush has beaten a higher-ranked player. Last year, he staged a superb 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 beating Brian Yang of Canada.
Earlier, India’s top mixed doubles pair, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, made a winning start to their campaign on Day 1. The Indian duo 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 bowed out against 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 in action later in the day. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu will open her campaign against Wong Ling Ching of Malaysia in a round of 32.
