Indonesia Open: Ayush Shetty Rallies To Move Into Pre-Quarters

Young Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty produced a stunning comeback to secure a dramatic win and move into the pre-quarterfinals, while star men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were forced to retire midway through their opening-round match at the Indonesia Open on Wednesday.

The mixed doubles duo of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde progressed to the second round after upsetting World No. 20 Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-14.

World No. 20 Ayush Shetty battled for 66 minutes to claim an 8-21, 22-20, 21-15 victory over World No. 15 Weng Hong Yang of China in his opening-round clash at the Super 1000 event.

Completely outplayed in the first game, the 21-year-old Indian staged a spirited turnaround,

overturning an 11-15 deficit in the second game with a series of superb rallies to push the match into a decider.

The Badminton Asia Championships silver medallist then took charge in the third game, cruising to victory and booking his place in the second round, where he will face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.

In contrast, Satwik and Chirag had to retire just seven minutes into their men’s doubles opener after Satwik experienced a shoulder issue.

Having recently ended their two-year title drought with a triumph at the Singapore Open last week, the Indian pair were trailing 6-11 against Malaysia’s Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai when Satwik pointed to his right shoulder, leading to the match being stopped.

In men’s singles, HS Prannoy bowed out in the first round after a hard-fought three-game loss to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.

Prannoy went down 17-21 in the opening game, levelled the match by taking the second 21-16, but could not sustain his momentum and lost the decider 19-21.

In women’s singles, Unnati Hooda suffered a straight-games defeat to former world number one Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, going down 15-21, 14-21.

In mixed doubles, Rohan and Ruthvika dominated the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei pair Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang, wrapping up the contest in just 34 minutes. A tough challenge now awaits them as they take on defending champions Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France in the next round.

In women’s singles action on Thursday, PV Sindhu will face An Se Young, while the men’s doubles pair Hariharan-Arjun will meet Malaysia’s Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, who progressed after Satwik and Chirag retired during the opening game due to Satwik’s injury.

(With Inputs From Agencies)