Ayush Shetty's stellar run at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Junior Championships held in Spokane, USA came to an end early on Sunday as he finished his campaign with a bronze medal.
In a closely contested match, Ayush Shetty faced the tournament's fourth seed, Alwi Farhan of Indonesia. The first game saw Ayush and his opponent locked in a tight battle, with the score tied at 16-16. It was at this pivotal moment that his opponent gained the upper hand and secured quick points and Ayush ultimately succumbed, losing the game with a score of 18-21, as per a press release from the Badminton Association of India (BAI). With the momentum in his favour, Alwi took an early lead of 4-0 against Ayh in the second game. Ayush displayed resilience and managed to tie the scores at 13-13. However, he couldn't maintain his rhythm, and conceded a flurry of points to his opponent, ultimately resulting in a 15-21 loss. Ayush became the 10th Indian to win a medal at the BWF World Junior Championships and the 8th Men's singles shuttler to do so. India has won 11 medals in the competition with Saina Nehwal contributing a silver and gold in 2006 and 2008 respectively. India's S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian won the silver medal in the men's singles in the last edition of the World Junior Championships held in Spain in 2022. Ayush assured India a medal at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Junior Championships after he defeated Japan's Yudai Okimoto in the quarterfinals to storm into the semifinals in Spokane, USA early on Saturday. Ayush, the number one ranked Indian boys' singles player in the BAI rankings, faced a tough challenge from his opponent in the early stages. However, when the score reached 16-15 in the Indian shuttler's favour, he took his game to the next level, won a flurry of points, and won the first game 21-16. In the second game, Ayush Shetty quickly established a 4-0 lead and maintained his momentum. Although his opponent Yudai attempted a comeback at 18-12, Ayush held his composure and won the second game 21-17 to win the tie in 45 minutes. (ANI)
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