India's Ayush Shetty persisted for 70 minutes to overcome the Chinese challenge. | Photo Credit: AFP

Ayush Shetty on Wednesday picked up India’s first win in its final group-stage tie against China in the Thomas Cup, defeating Weng Hong Yang and keeping his team in the hunt.

Shetty defeated the World No. 15 from China 17-21, 21-13, 21-15 in a gruelling 70-minute encounter. China led 2-1 after this result in the five-match affair.

Earlier in the fixture, India’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty went down 13-21, 21-13, 24-26 in a closely-fought contest against Liang Wei Kang and Chang Wang.

The Chinese pair had doubled the lead after Li Shi Feng bettered Lakshya Sen and 21-19, 8-21, 21-12 in the opening rubber.

Although India is already through to the quarterfinals, a strong show against China will hold it in good stead.

It is down to HS Prannoy and the doubles pair of M. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan to swing the contest in India’s favour.

Published on Apr 29, 2026