New Delhi: India’s rising star Ayush Shetty created a huge ripple on the opening day of the BWF World Championships at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Monday.
Up against Chinese world No. 1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi, Ayush pulled off a 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 victory in an hour and 13 minutes.
It was easily the 21-year-old’s biggest win of his young career, that too, in his maiden World Championships.
Buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, Ayush dominated the first game with some blistering smashes. Shi pushed the match into a decider by running away with Game 2. The Karnataka youngster showed his mettle and kept his nerve in a tense third game to come up trumps.
It was an even more significant triumph considering the fact that Ayush had lost his previous three clashes against Shi, including a straight-game hammering in the Asian Championships final in April.