BWF World Championships 2026: How Calm & Composed Ayush Shetty Buried Old Demons To Vanquish Shi Yuqi?

Ayush Shetty produced a statement win at the BWF World Championships 2026, stunning Chinese star Shi Yuqi in the opening round to register his first-ever victory over his arch-rival in their head-to-head record.

The Badminton Asian Championship silver medallist looked composed and confident from the outset, using the drift on Court 1 to his advantage while moving smoothly across the court. Despite facing a barrage of powerful smashes from Shi Yuqi, Shetty showed remarkable resilience to stay in control and secure the win.

Reflecting on his performance, the Indian shuttler admitted he was better prepared both technically and mentally for the World Championships compared to the Asian Championships. “I think technically I was much more prepared. And mentally as well, I was ready to work really hard. And yeah, I think I knew it would be a really tough match.”

Shi Yuqi Fights Back In Second Game

The World No. 1, however, fought back in the second game. One of the things that Shi did was play a game where he felt comfortable. He was putting the shuttle in the front of the court more and forcing Ayush to play in the front court.

Additionally, there was drift, which offered Shi Yuqi some assistance, like it helped Ayush in Game 1. The Chinese shuttler acknowledged this in the post-match press conference as well. There was a beacon of hope at 8-7 when Ayush took the lead.

However, Shi was not ready to relinquish the second game and fought back to take a big lead at 16-12. Eventually, Ayush managed to score just one point from here while Shi raced ahead with the second game.

Jittery Moments In Game 3

In the third game, Ayush raced ahead after a tough opening round where the scores were tied at 3-3. But Ayush once again took the lead, playing on his ‘favourite’ side of the game. At the mid-game interval, Shetty was leading the game 11-5. Shi committed a lot of unforced errors as the lead widened and the score stood at 17-8 as the match concluded. However, Ayush needed immediate medical attention subsequently and there was a break in the momentum.

The Chinese shuttler took advantage of the same in the third game and managed to crawl back in the game. The score stood at 18-12, and it looked like Ayush was going a little blank. Interestingly, Shetty missed five game points in the third set before taking the game. In the post-match media interaction, Shetty spoke about that ‘nervy’ moment and said, “I was telling myself to calm down. I was getting a bit nervous. Because she was really catching up and momentum was with her.”

He further added that, as Shi managed to recover from his smashes, he tried to calm his nerves. Shetty will next play the winner of the match between Dumindu Abeywickrama and Adriano Vale.