New Delhi: Ayush Shetty caused a major upset as he stunned top seed and defending champion Shi Yu Qi of China in the first round of the BWF Badminton World Championships at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
The 21-year-old Ayush, making his World Championships debut, recorded a surprise 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 victory over World No. 1 Yu Qi in a thrilling battle which lasted 73 minutes.
It was the first win in four meetings for Ayush against Yu Qi but it came only after surviving a late charge from the Chinese star. Trailing 7-17 in the decider, Yu Qi won eight of the next nine points. He even saved four match points but Ayush got over the line with a deceptive winner.
Former champion P. V. Sindhu registered a comfortable straight-games win over inexperienced Irish shuttler Sophia Noble in the opening round.
Sindhu, a five-time medallist, did not have to break a sweat in her 21-7, 21-11 victory over world championships debutant Noble in a match which lasted only 29 minutes. The 21-year-old Noble, ranked 141st in the world, was no match for World No. 9 Sindhu who began the 10th World Championship campaign of her decorated career.
Sindhu will next face Canadian World No. 49 Wen Yu Zhang in the round of 32.
Earlier in the day, the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, and the men’s doubles duo of M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan also booked their spots in the second round.
Treesa-Gayatri took down Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez 21-9, 21-13 to set up a round of 32 clash with 16th-seeded American duo of Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee. Arjun-Hariharan led Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds 21-16, 6-4 when the Irish duo withdrew from the fixture due to an injury. The 15th-seeded Korean pair of Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju will be their next opponent. Agencies
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