Ayush Shetty defeats Shi Yuqi in opening round in New Delhi; Upsets world No.1 on debut

BWF World Championships 2026: Ayush Shetty ends Shi Yuqi’s title defence in opening round

On his Worlds debut, Ayush beat world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. India had a strong start to their campaign with PV Sindhu and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand also advancing.

India’s Ayush Shetty produced the biggest win of his career, knocking out world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of the People’s Republic of China in a thrilling opening-round contest at the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi on Monday.

The 21-year-old Indian badminton player , 22nd in the BWF rankings , held his nerve against the 30-year-old Chinese top seed to pull off a stunning 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 victory on his World Championships debut.

Ayush came into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record against Shi Yuqi, but two of those encounters had been closely fought.

At the Indonesia Masters last year, Shi Yuqi edged the Indian 21-19, 21-19 before needing three games and an hour and 10 minutes to overcome Ayush in the round of 16 at the Malaysia Open earlier this year.

Their most recent meeting, however, was a more one-sided affair. Shi Yuqi defeated Ayush 21-8, 21-10 in the Badminton Asia Championships final in Ningbo in April.

Against the defending world champion at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, Ayush showed he had grown since that loss in April.

The Indian made a strong start, racing to an 8-3 lead, stretching his advantage to 13-6 before keeping his composure to close out the opening game 21-14.

Shi Yuqi responded in the second game, with the two players locked at 8-8 before the Chinese shuttler gradually gained control.

Shi Yuqi moved five points clear at 15-10 and then stretched it to 17-13 before winning the next four points to take the match into a decider.

The final game was level at 3-3 before Ayush began to pull away, winning three straight points and opening up an 11-5 lead at the interval.

Ayush then held his nerve despite a Shi Yuqi fightback to complete a remarkable victory over the world No. 1 badminton player.

Meanwhile, PV Sindhu began her women’s singles campaign with a straight-game win over Ireland’s Sophia Noble.

The ninth-seeded Indian badminton player, a two-time Olympic medallist and five-time World Championships medallist, beat the world No. 141 shuttler 21-7, 21-11 in 29 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Sindhu, the 2019 world champion, will next face Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in the round of 32.

Earlier in the day, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the second round of the women’s doubles after a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win over Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez.

The Indian pair needed just 33 minutes to complete the victory in their round of 64 match.

The Commonwealth Games medallists will next face USA’s Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee, the 16th seeds, in the round of 32

Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi also marched into the women’s doubles round of 32 after beating Spain’s Nikol Carulla and Carmen Maria Jimenez 22-20, 21-14 in 46 minutes.

MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan progressed in the men’s doubles after their Irish opponents Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds retired hurt during their opening-round match.

The Indian pair, ranked No. 24 in the world, had taken the opening game 21-16 and were leading 6-4 in the second when the world No. 102 Irish combination was unable to continue.

The result sends the Indian pair into the round of 32, where they face Republic of Korea’s 15th seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.

The BWF World Championships is being held in India for the first time since 2009. The 30th edition will run from August 17 to 23.

India have won 15 medals at the World Championships and have claimed at least one medal at every edition since 2011.

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