Ayush Shetty secures a medal at Badminton World Junior C’ships

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Continuing his impressive run, talented shuttler Ayush Shetty on Saturday assured India of a medal at the World Junior Championships after sailing into the men’s singles semifinals in Spokane, USA.

Ayush defeated Japan’s Yudai Okimoto 21-16 21-17 in the quarterfinals on the fifth day of the prestigious event.

Ayush, the number one ranked Indian boys’ singles player, faced tough challenge from his opponent in the early stages. However, he recovered to make it 16-15 and then won a flurry of points to seal the opening game.

In the second game, Ayush quickly established a 4-0 lead and maintained his momentum. Although Yudai attempted a comeback at 18-12, Ayush held his composure and sealed the tie in 45 minutes.

Ayush will face fourth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia in the semifinals.

In girls’ singles, Tara Shah went down fighting 17-21 6-21 to eighth seed Xu Wen Jing of China in her quarterfinal match.

Before this edition, India had won one gold, 4 silver and five bronze medals at this prestigious event.

India’s S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian had won the silver medal in the boys’ singles category in the last edition of World Junior Championships held in Spain in 2022.