Young shuttler Ayush Shetty gave India reasons to feel optimistic about badminton as he won the the US Open Super 300 on Sunday, June 29 in Iowa. The 20-year-old beat Canada’s Brian. Yang in straight games 21-18, 21-13 in the final to clinch his maiden BWF World Tour title.
By clinching the US Open title Ayush has become the first Indian to win a BWF World Tour title this year. Ayush, who clinched the bronze medal at the a 2023 junior world championships took only 47 minutes to beat Yang. Earlier in the week the Indian had beaten top-seeded Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the semifinal.
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In the women’s singles section, teenager Tanvi Sharma finished runner-up. The 16-year-old was beaten by Beiwen Zhang of the United States in a three-game final. Featuring in her first BWF World Tour final, the unseeded Indian put up a brave fight went down 11-21, 21-16, 10-21 in 46 minutes.
2025 has proven to be a difficult year for India as the the stalwarts like PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairajrankireddy failed to clinch any BWF World Tour title. Last month veteran Kidambi Srikanth came agonizingly close to end India’s wait for a title but fell short. The 32-year-old had a dream run at the Malaysian Masters and qualified for the final which he lost to China’s Li Shifeng.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
