Ayush Shetty, the 20-year-old Indian badminton player, had the best week of his life, beating world No.1, No.4, and No.7 players en route to the final of the Badminton Asia Championships. Despite his superb run, Shetty cut a starkly different figure, lamenting his straight games loss to China’s world No.2 Shi Yu Qi in the summit clash.
Shetty showed impeccable maturity, especially for someone who recently graduated to the senior level. His talent first emerged when he claimed bronze at the 2023 World Junior Championships. At the senior level, though, his breakthrough was winning the 2025 US Open. Now, the world No. 25 has taken a major step in announcing his arrival in the big league, defeating three top-7 players last week.
However, Shetty is keeping his feet on the ground, aware that he should not get carried away. He believes that his biggest challenge now is the physical part, and he needs to get a lot stronger to continuously play at this level. He is working on his endurance, training with coach Irwansyah, who has changed his training schedule to increase his endurance.
Shetty is also aware of the flaws of his height, which is an advantage in creating sharp angles and hitting powerful smashes but also has its drawbacks. He is working on improving his defence and becoming more agile, drawing inspiration from two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.
For now, Shetty is looking to return home, celebrate a bit, and then look forward to more success at the “World Championships at home and Asian Games”.
