Rising Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty caused a major upset at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 badminton tournament on Thursday, ousting 2023 World Championships silver medallist Kodai Naraoka of Japan in a hard-fought three-game contest to storm into the men’s singles quarterfinals.The 20-year-old from Karnataka, who clinched the U.S. Open Super 300 title in June, showcased his aggressive style and superior court coverage to outplay the former world No. 2 Japanese shuttler 21-19, 12-21, 21-14 in a 72-minute thriller.Ayush will face Lakshya Sen, his compatriot and companion at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, in the quarterfinals.“We are going for dinner tonight, I’m not sure we will speak about the match. I played him recently at a domestic tournament and he won in three games. Hopefully, I can flip the result this time,” Ayush told BWF when asked about facing Lakshya.Earlier, Lakshya reached his first men’s singles quarterfinal of a top BWF World Tour event in six months, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced at the USD 500,000 event.Former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya, ranked 20th, rallied past compatriot HS Prannoy 15-21, 21-18, 21-10 in the second round.The 23-year-old Lakshya, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, has battled injuries and patchy form this season. He last made the semifinals at the All England Super 1000 in March and reached the same stage at the Macau Open Super 300.In men’s doubles, world no. 9 Satwik and Chirag, fresh from their second World Championships bronze in Paris, will next face Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap.However, it was the end of the road for Kiran George who lost 6-21, 12-21 to Chou Tien Chen of Taipei.The Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — too exited the tournament after going down 13-21, 7-21 against fifth seeds Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China in the women’s doubles event.A bronze medallist at the 2023 BWF World Junior Championships — the same year Naraoka claimed silver at the senior Worlds — Ayush has been in fine form over the past year, having also reached the final of the 2023 Odisha Masters and finishing runner-up at events in Bahrain and the Netherlands across 2023 and 2024.“He has a good defence so I needed to break through it, keep the attack on. Starting strong in the third game was crucial, I was on the better side of the court. The hall’s a bit windy but I’m loving it here,” Ayush said.On Thursday, the lanky Indian went on a smash-hitting spree to unsettle Naraoka. It was a see-saw battle in the opening game as Ayush trailed 2-5, 9-12, and 13-15, but kept applying pressure with his booming smashes, eventually taking the game 21-19.Naraoka bounced back in the second game, racing to an 11-5 lead at the mid-game interval as Ayush struggled to find his rhythm. The Japanese maintained the momentum to level the match.However, Ayush regained his composure in the decider, attacking anything in his range with precision. After a 3-3 start, the Indian pulled ahead 8-4, dominating the front court with sharp smashes and forcing errors from Naraoka.A deft tap and an angled return helped Ayush secure a five-point lead at the interval. He continued to press ahead, pushing to 17-10 with aggressive returns and a series of forced errors from his opponent.With Naraoka hitting wide twice, Ayush earned eight match points. He squandered two before sealing the memorable win.In the other men’s singles match, Prannoy looked in good touch as he had a smooth ride in the opening game, leading from start to finish without much ado.The 33-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram carried the momentum initially, opening up a 4-0 lead after the change of sides, but then a six-point burst helped Lakshya topple his senior. It turned out to be a tight battle thereafter as the lead exchanged hands frequently.At 18-18, Lakshya clawed back with a deep smash. Prannoy smashed wide and then faltered at the front court as Lakshya grabbed two game points and converted when Prannoy went long.In the decider, Prannoy had a 5-2 lead again but then errors started creeping in as he fell behind 9-13 after he missed the sideline and hit out. A net shot helped Lakshya move to 16-10.As Prannoy continued to succumb to unforced errors, Lakshya soon earned 10 match points and sealed it when the former miscued another shot.Satwik-Chirag pair rolls onThe Indian pair had a slow start, trailing 8-11 in the opening game as Sukphun and Teeraratsakul dominated. Although they fought back to 18-18, the Thai duo secured the final three points to claim the opener.Stung by the setback, the Indians played with renewed intensity in the second game. After a keen tussle from 2-2 to 7-7, they grabbed an 11-10 lead at the mid-game break and steadily pulled ahead to take the match to the decider.The third game was one-sided as Satwik and Chirag raced to a 7-2 lead and then surged ahead further as the Thai pair faltered.
