Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty continued his impressive run at the Badminton Asia Championships with another big win, reaching the semi-finals after beating Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie on Friday at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre.
Ayush defeated the world No. 4 and third seed Christie in straight games, winning 23-21, 21-17. It was the first time the two players faced each other, and Ayush made it count. With this win, he has also assured himself of a medal, becoming the first Indian men’s singles player to do so at this tournament since HS Prannoy in 2018.
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This will also be India’s first medal at the Badminton Asia Championships since the men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won gold in 2023.
Ayush will now play in the semi-finals against the winner of the match between Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who won silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and China’s Weng Hongyang.
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The first game was very close from the start. Both players kept pushing each other, and at the break, Christie was just ahead at 11-10. After the interval, he looked in control and moved ahead to 18-15, even getting a game point. But Ayush didn’t back down. He fought hard, saved the game point, and turned things around to take the game 23-21.
The second game was also competitive. Ayush had a small lead of 11-9 at the break and then slowly built on it. He stayed calm, kept the rallies under control, and finished the match 21-17 to seal his place in the semi-finals.
Earlier in the tournament, Ayush had already made headlines by defeating world No. 7 and Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng in the first round. He then beat Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei to reach the quarter-finals.
It hasn’t been the best tournament for the other Indian players. PV Sindhu was knocked out in the second round, while Lakshya Sen exited in the opening round.