New Delhi: A confident Ayush Shetty made opening day of the BWF World Championships a memorable one for himself and the country as the 21-year-old Mangalurean stunned world No. 1 Shi Yuqi 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 in the men’s singles draw.
In fact, all the Indian players won their matches on the day with P V Sindhu breaking no sweat to reach the round of 32 of the women’s singles. The world No. 9, in hot pursuit of her sixth World Championships medal, saw off Irish rank outsider Sophia Noble 21-7, 21-11.
The day, however, belonged to Ayush, who won the match against all odds against the defending champion. After all, the 30-year-old Chinese top seed had the ranking, the reputation and the head-to-head advantage. Ayush, however, had something else: belief, preparation and a season that had already taken him to an Asian Championships silver.
Against the same opponent he had faced in the Asian Championships, the world No. 22 produced the biggest win of his career at the IG Stadium on Monday.
Ayush did his homework well as he studied the conditions well and executed it on the court. He used the drift intelligently to keep rallies short, attack with angles and force the Chinese to adjust. And when the match threatened to slip away in the decider, he held his nerve to complete a stunning upset.
Yuqi, who has won withouth much discomfort against Ayush in the past, was struck by the difference.
“Ayush looked different today. He looked much better than before and it was evident that he had come well prepared for this match,” Yuqi told media after the match.
The Chinese, however, also admitted that he failed to adapt to the drift quicker than his opponent.
The first two games offered a clear indication of how much the conditions mattered.
Ayush took the opening game 21-14, before Yuqi responded 21-13 in the second. The players changed ends at 11 points in each game, meaning the advantage of playing with the drift was never permanent. But Ayush did things right in crucial junctures, including the decider when he was leading 11-5.
With Yuqi back to the favourable end, the Chinese was expected to shrink the gap. However, the Chinese took time to readjust, and Ayush pounced, reeling off five points in succession to move further ahead.
Yet, Yuqi refused to go away as he gradually worked his way back to shrink the gap to 19-18. Ayush, however, held his nerve to claim the crucial two points to close the biggest win of his career.
Interestingly, Ayush himself did not believe the drift was as influential as it appeared from the outside.
“I felt the drift was much higher and faster during practice. During the match, it was much less, so I didn’t feel it played a significant role,” he said.
Yet the scoring pattern told its own story. Across the three games, the player playing with the favourable drift repeatedly enjoyed spells of dominance, making Ayush’s ability to recognise and exploit the conditions crucial.
First round results: India matches only: Prefix denotes seeding: Men: Singles: Ayush Shetty (Ind) bt 1-Shi Yuqi (Chn) 21-14, 13-21, 21-19.
Doubles: Hariharan A/MR Arjun (Ind) bt Scott Guildea/Paul Reynolds 21-16, 6-4 (retired).
Women: Singles: 9-PV Sindhu (Ind) bt Sophia Noble (Ire) 21-7, 21-11.
Doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly (Ind) bt Paula Lopez/Lucia Rodriguez 21-9, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: Kavipriya Selvam/ Simran Singhi (Ind) bt Nikol Carulla/ Carmen Jimenez (Esp) 22-20, 21-14