BWF Junior World C'ships: Ayush Shetty wins bronze medal

Young Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty finished his stellar run at the BWF World Junior Championships held in Spokane, USA came to an end early on Sunday as he finished his campaign with a bronze medal.

Up against fourth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia, Ayush Shetty was locked in a tight battle 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.

In the second game, Ayush was left behind by the momentum of Alwi who took an early lead of 4-0. Despite fighting and going toe-to-toe with the Indonesian, Ayush lost the second set.

After 13-13 at one point, Ayush failed to find his rhythm and lost 15-21.

With the momentum in his favour, Alwi took an early lead of 4-0 against Ayush 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.

Earlier, Ayush defeated Japan's Yudai Okimoto in the quarterfinals to storm into the semifinals.

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 favor, 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. Ayush became the 10th Indian to win a medal at the BWF World Junior Championships and the eighth men's shuttler. 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.