Shuttler Ayush Shetty
Iowa (US): Rising shuttler Ayush Shetty notched up his first BWF World Tour title with a commanding straight-games victory over Canada’s Brian Yang in the men’s singles final of the US Open Super 300, ending India’s title drought this season.
The 20-year-old, a 2023 junior world championships bronze winner, defeated the third seeded Yang 21-18 21-13 in 47 minutes on Sunday to cap off an impressive week, which included a come-from-behind win against top seed Chou Tien Chen in the semifinals.
It was Shetty’s third victory over Yang, having defeated him twice earlier this year at Malaysia and Taipei Open.
“It means a lot, it’s my first title in the senior circuit. So I’m really happy,” the 6 ft-4 inch shuttler told BWF.
“There are a lot of positives to take away. I played some excellent badminton here, and I’m looking forward to the Canada Open next week.”
In the women’s singles final, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma finished runner-up after a fighting three-game loss to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States.
Playing her first World Tour final, the unseeded teenager went down 11-21 21-16 10-21 in 46 minutes.
“I’m very happy with my performance. I was a bit nervous before entering the court, and I made many mistakes. This is my first Super 300 final, so I’m happy about that,” Tanvi said.
Shetty vs Yang
The men’s singles final began evenly with scores tied at 6-6, but Shetty, seeded fourth, surged ahead with a string of winners to lead 11-6 at the interval.
Yang narrowed the gap to 13-11 and drew level at 16-16, but Shetty regained control with well-placed shots to secure the opening game with a decisive jump smash.
The second game saw the Mangalore shuttler race to a 7-2 lead before Yang briefly caught up, but the Indian maintained composure, mixing variations and sharp defence to keep his opponent at bay.
Leading 17-12, Shetty closed out the match with a cross-court punch followed by a powerful smash to seal his maiden World Tour title.
“He was defending quite well in the first game. I varied my smashes a bit, played some half-smashes and drops and that made a difference,” said Shetty.
“In the first game I was hurrying a bit playing some sharp strokes. In the second game I was more confident, I opened up the game and that made the difference.”
Shetty had reached the finals of 2023 Odisha Masters Super 100 tournament, besides making the summit clash at the 2023 Bahrain International and 2024 Dutch Open.
Tanvi vs Zhang
In the women’s singles final, Tanvu struggled to settle early as Zhang built an 11-5 lead in the opening game, which the Indian couldn’t breach.
In the second game, Tanvi came out attacking, taking a 4-0 lead and maintaining her advantage despite Zhang pushing her with long rallies.
From 11-9 at the interval, the Indian continued her aggressive approach, forcing errors from Zhang and taking the game to force a decider.
However, Tanvi ran out of steam in the third game as Zhang surged to an 11-4 lead at the break and closed out the match comfortably to claim the title.
