India’s rising shuttler Ayush Shetty has created history by reaching the final of Badminton Asia Championship 2026. Shetty surprised everyone by defeating the world number 1 player and current champion in the semi-finals. Indian star Ayush, just 20 years old, defeated Thailand’s veteran Kunlavut Vitidsarn 10-21, 21-19, 21-17 in a thrilling semi-final. With this, after a long wait of 61 years, an Indian player made it to the finals of the singles event.
Shetty and Kunlavut faced each other on Saturday, April 11 in this tournament going on in Ningbo, China. Earlier in this tournament, Ayush had created a sensation by defeating some former champions and top-10 ranked players. In such a situation, there were some expectations from him in this match too but it was not easy to overcome the world number-1 in front. Current champion and last year’s World Championship silver medalist Kunlavut put Ayush under pressure by winning the first game easily.
But despite losing the first game, Ayush’s spirits remained high and he made a brilliant comeback. The tall Indian star won the next two games and made it to the final for the first time. The match between the two lasted for 75 minutes, in which high-flying badminton was seen. In this way, he became only the second Indian shuttler to reach the singles final in this tournament. Earlier in 1965, Dinesh Khanna had won this title and till date he is the only Indian to do so.
Now in the final on Sunday, April 12, Ayush will face the winner of the second semi-final between Shi Yuqi or Chou Tian Chen. Ayush gave a memorable performance in this entire tournament. Even before the upset in the semi-finals, he had defeated some big stars. In the very first round of the tournament, he surprised China by defeating Li Shi Feng (7th rank) 21-13, 21-16. Then his next victim was in the quarter-finals, when he defeated 2024 champion and fourth ranked Jonathan Christie of Indonesia 23-21, 21-17.
Ayush Shetty, who hails from Karkala, Karnataka, is being considered as the next “superstar” of Indian badminton along with Chirag Sen. Ayush is especially successful in leaving his mark on the court due to his 6 feet 5 inches tall height. Ayush, currently ranked 25th in the BWF World Rankings, has won one super series so far. He won the US Open (Super 300) title in 2025. Apart from this, in 2023 he won the singles bronze medal in the Junior World Championship.