Ayush Shetty stunned Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a 75-minute thriller to reach the final of the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Badminton Asia Championships

Ayush Shetty’s impressive campaign at the Badminton Asia Championships 2026 continued on Saturday as he stunned defending champion and World No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, becoming only the second Indian ever to reach the men’s singles final at the continental event.

Dinesh Khanna had won gold at the 1965 edition. Since then, Khanna (1969), Suresh Goel (1965), Prakash Padukone (1976), Pullela Gopichand (2000), Anup Sridhar (2007) and H. S. Prannoy (2018) have all won bronze medals.

World No. 25 Ayush upset Thailand’s Vitidsarn 10-21, 21-19, 21-17 in an hour and 15 minutes in Ningbo, China, to reach the summit clash where he’ll face second-seeded Chinese Shi Yu Qi, who won 21-9, 21-3 against Chou Tien Chen, the fourth-seeded player from Chinese Taipei.

“Ayush handled the situation well. He seemed to get into Kunlavut’s head with his attacking style and exploited that smartly,” Vimal Kumar, former India chief coach and Director of Centre for Badminton Excellence (Formerly PPBA), told PTI.

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“Taking the second game was crucial. At 20-14, Ayush Shetty looked in control but got a bit anxious as Vitidsarn clawed back to 20-19. That is where he produced something special to close it out.

“All week, he has shown an ability to respond in tight moments, using the right tactics and deploying his smashes and clips judiciously. That discipline paid off.” 

It was the second meeting between Ayush and Vitidsarn. They had previously faced each other during last year’s Arctic Open where the Thai shuttler had triumphed 21-15, 21-16. Paris Olympics silver medallist Vitidsarn seemed to be on track to repeat that result in Ningbo as he dominated the Indian player to clinch the first game easily.

However, Ayush turned the tide as he strengthened his defence and kept a fair distance between him and Vitidsarn from the beginning. He led 11-4 at the mid-game interval and soon, earned six games points. But the 24-year-old Thai shuttler, a former World Champion, reeled off five points on the trot.

On the sixth attempt, Ayush finally got the job done with a down-the-line jump smash to take the second game.

In the decider, Ayush took a four-point lead going into the mid-game interval. He converted the second of his four match points to complete a famour win.

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It has been a memorable week for Ayush, who had won the BWF World Junior Championships bronze medal in 2023. He began his campaign with an upset win over China’s Li Shi Feng, World No. 7, in straight games. He followed it up with a convincing 21-16, 21-12 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen, World No. 20.

In the quarterfinals, the reigning U.S. Open Champion defeated World No. 4 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 23-21, 21-17.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published on Apr 11, 2026