Orleans Masters: Ayush Shetty delivers stunning victory over Loh Kean Yew

In the Orleans Masters badminton championship, India’s 19-year-old Ayush Shetty delivered a stunning straight-game victory over former World Champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the Round of 32. He defeated Loh Kean Yew 21-17, 21-9 in a 36-minute clash in the BWF World Tour Super 300 event held at Palais des Sports, Orléans, France. 

The Indian won four points in a row again, and though the Singapore shuttler levelled scores at 9-9 and 12-12 as the two players went neck-and-neck. But from 14-13, Ayush surged ahead to an 18-13 lead before closing out the game 21-17. Ayush dominated the second game, opening an 11-2 lead and maintaining the upper hand despite a fightback by the Singapore shuttler, and he went on to win the game 21-9 to clinch a memorable victory in their first career meeting.

It was a mixed day for India the experienced H.S. Prannoy made a winning start, beating World No. 24 Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in three games. Prannoy won 21-11, 20-22, 21-9 in a 60-minute



encounter. Fellow Indian Kiran George went down to Jia Heng Jason Teh of Singapore in three games, 21-15, 16-21, 10-21, in just over an hour in another Round of 32 clash.

In the women’s singles category, Malvika Bansod retired with an injury trailing 6-21, 5-21 in her first-round match, while Unnati Hooda fell at the first hurdle, losing to top-seed and World No.1 An Se Young of South Korea, 9-21, 15-21.

In the mixed doubles category, Rohan Kapoor and G. Ruthvika Shivani delivered a spirited performance, defeating Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei in a nail-biting encounter. The Indian duo fought back after losing the first game to win 20-22, 24-22, 21-16 in a match that lasted an hour. However, another Indian mixed doubles pair, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Prathumesh couldn’t replicate the success. They went down against Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, losing 10-21, 15-21 in straight games.