Taipei Open 2025: Ayush Shetty downs World No 13; Kidambi Srikanth advances

India' Ayush Shetty registered an upset win over world No 13 and the 2025 All England Open finallist Lee Chia Hao in the opening round of the 2025 Taipei Open Super 300 on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Shetty won 21-17, 21-18 in straight games, extending his good run of the form in the year.

The Indian World Junior Championships bronze medallist had a slow start to the match and trailed 3-7 in the opening game. He, however, recovered and pushed his way through from 16-16 to win the opening game.

Shetty once again played catch up for most of the second game against the home favourite. He trailed 15-17 and it looked as if he would be dragged into a decider rather convincingly.

However, Lee faltered at this crucial juncture, missing his line and hitting the shuttle wide multiple times. These errors meant that the Indian won five points on the bounce and had three match point opportunities with a 20-17 lead.

The Chinese Taipei shuttler did manage to save one of the three match points before Shetty converted the next point to wrap up the match.

Shetty, who had reached the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters Super 300 earlier in the year, will now meet fellow Indian and former world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth next in the Round of 16.

Srikanth, meanwhile, defeated another Junior World Championships medallist in Sankar Subramaniam 21-16, 21-15 in straight games.

Earlier in the day, Tharun Mannepalli also advanced to the men's singles pre-quarters with a hard fought 21-17, 19-21, 21-12 win over Japan’s Shogo Ogawa.

In the women's singles, Unnati Hooda reached the Round of 16, beating fellow Indian Anupama Upadhyay 21-13, 21-17 in 41 minutes.

Anmol Kharb and Aakarshi Kashyap, meanwhile, bowed out with a loss in their respective matches.