Why Ayush Shetty is top-tier already after commanding Asian Championships win over World No 7 Li Shifeng despite chinks in armour
The 20-year-old towering Indian, ranked 25, and guided by coach Irwansyah, won 21-13, 21-16, and will play World No 20 Chi Yu Jen on Thursday; Sindhu grinds out
After Lakshya Sen decimated the Chinese men’s singles at All England, Ayush Shetty kept the powerhouse under the pump, with a stunningly poised and powerful 21-13, 21-16 win over Li Shifeng in the first round of the Badminton Asian Championships in Ningbo.
The Indian attack quite simply overran the most attacking of China’s shuttlers, as the World No 25 Indian defanged World No 7 Shifeng, playing crisp, crackling badminton. It took 55 minutes, mostly to overhaul early set leads (7-5, 8-5) from Shifeng. The Chinese, just 26, is already from a generation that is being challenged and pushed out by the new bunch of post-teens.
“His attack reminded me of Viktor Axelsen when he’s absolutely dominant,” said coach Vimal Kumar. “He’s already beaten difficult Top 10s last year, but he’s proving he’s right up there. In my interactions with international coaches, I gather they are really worried about his potential and fear him due to his height and smashes. When he’s on top of the shuttle, he can play those punch clears with hard hits that are troubling big names,” he added.
Against Li Shifeng, the longest rally perhaps came when the Chinese desperately tried, when trailing 13-19 in the first set, to construct a maze to tire out Ayush. But the Indian stayed solid, did the due retrieving and finished with a smash, which are mic-drops in the sense that Shifeng rarely got near them.
Guided by Irwansyah, a perfect fit for Ayush as coach, given his classical power stroke-making, the 6’4″ Indian showed composure to work on Shifeng’s game – tease out strands of possible openings, locate the precise incisions on court to land his kills just like Indonesian Jojo Christie would. A bulk of points came from Ayush’s dependable net interceptions. This one point, he tapped it down, seconds after the shuttle crossed the net and smiled widely, to show his mirth at a job well done.
But more than anything, Ayush neatly dispatched all vague, errant lifts and even flick serves to Shifeng’s forehand flank, with smashes that travelled like cannonballs – deep. There are a million things Ayush could improve on in his defense and movement on court and shot selection, but the smash, even a round-the-head or the conventional one struck at the highest point, is a finished product, ready to dismantle world hierarchies.
It travels at speed, stays within bounds with stinging urgency and lands on the backcourt. A sniper from a vantage. At 9-12, Ayush sent one into the net and he could save tiny energy by not grimacing and hopping around. But the very next point, he nailed one to Shifeng’s backhand and was soon level on 12-12, riding momentum, like a blazing comet’s tail. The beauty of the Ayush smash is that it doesn’t need to engage with the lines – even against a tall retriever like Shifeng, who couldn’t react quickly enough.
In fact, Ayush had trailed mostly for the first half of the second set, but made his way back with crisp shot-making and taking the attack to the Chinese. Every Ayush kill was greeted by silence rent with disappointment from the Chinese crowd at Ningbo Olympic Center.
The 21-13, 21-16 victory came from a similar smash – though this time Shifeng, who had been pumping his fists start of the set, didn’t even move and returned leaden-footed as a capacity crowd was silenced.
Irwansyah’s influence was evident in how Ayush did not prolong the rallies or get lured into needless midcourt exchanges. He can still get sharper and more controlled in defense, but the attack is flowing. He also takes those breathers needed to reorient the nervous energy after a point lost.
Coach Vimal Kumar lauded Ayush’s performance, saying, “The power, the precision, and those thunderous smashes — the Chinese had no answers, completely unable to read or react. A truly dim nant display, one to watch for future.”
Ayush is still vulnerable against opponents who play a certain gear of the game, if not an entire style. While Shifeng pushing pace just did not work against him, his last two tournaments showed a chink in the armour. “Ayush played a similar match against Kodai Naraoka (at Australian Open in November), but next round, Lakshya completely outplayed him. At All England, Alwi (Farhan, of Indonesia) rushed him, and at Swiss, Brian Yang did the same. He will realise he cannot just hit sharp shots all the time. He has attacking clears that he can use,” Vimal said.
Ayush will be tested straight away against Taiwanese No 20 Chi Yu Jen on Thursday. “Let’s see tomorrow. This is just one round,” Vimal cautioned.
Those like Alwi and Frenchman Alex Lanier are as old as Ayush, and have worked on the consistency to start pushing out older players. It’s also why training under Irwansyah, who helped Indonesia’s top men’s singles, will help.
PV Sindhu, back on the court after missing the All England, showed the fight that keeps her in contention at the top level as she defeated World No 38 Malaysian Wong Ling Chin, 15-21, 21-11, 21-19 and next plays All England champ Wang Zhi Yi.
Also advancing was HS Prannoy, with a 24-22, 21-12 win over Vietnamese Nguyen Hai Dang. It was a typical slow start from Prannoy at 7-12 in the first, before he made the move at 18-20 with three straight points, and then sailed through the second. He plays Weng Hong Yang in a Malaysian Masters rematch.
India’s biggest loss was Lakshya, who went down to Lee Cheuk Yiu, 21-12, 21-19. Tanvi Sharma was lackluster in her 21-19, 21-14 defeat to Letshanaa Karupathevan, while Kidambi Srikanth was spent after the first, losing 21-18, 9-21, 11-21 to Loh Kean Yew.
Ayush has been reassigned to the training group at Bangalore that has PV Sindhu in it.
“We have put together a young group of players to train under Irwansyah alongside Sindhu at our Academy as part of the National camp. Among the girls, Devika Sihag and Isha Rani Barua are included. On the boys’ side, we have promising players like Ansh Negi (current U-19 National Champion), Suryaksh Rawat, a few other upcoming boys, and Ayush Shetty has also joined over the last two weeks,” Vimal informed. Lakshya remains in another group under the Korean coach.
After Lakshya Sen decimated the Chinese men’s singles at All England, Ayush Shetty kept the powerhouse under the pump, with a stunningly poised and powerful 21-13, 21-16 win over Li Shifeng in the first round of the Badminton Asian Championships in Ningbo.
The Indian attack quite simply overran the most attacking of China’s shuttlers, as the World No 25 Indian defanged World No 7 Shifeng, playing crisp, crackling badminton. It took 55 minutes, mostly to overhaul early set leads (7-5, 8-5) from Shifeng. The Chinese, just 26, is already from a generation that is being challenged and pushed out by the new bunch of post-teens.
“His attack reminded me of Viktor Axelsen when he’s absolutely dominant,” said coach Vimal Kumar. “He’s already beaten difficult Top 10s last year, but he’s proving he’s right up there. In my interactions with international coaches, I gather they are really worried about his potential and fear him due to his height and smashes. When he’s on top of the shuttle, he can play those punch clears with hard hits that are troubling big names,” he added.
Against Li Shifeng, the longest rally perhaps came when the Chinese desperately tried, when trailing 13-19 in the first set, to construct a maze to tire out Ayush. But the Indian stayed solid, did the due retrieving and finished with a smash, which are mic-drops in the sense that Shifeng rarely got near them.
Guided by Irwansyah, a perfect fit for Ayush as coach, given his classical power stroke-making, the 6’4″ Indian showed composure to work on Shifeng’s game – tease out strands of possible openings, locate the precise incisions on court to land his kills just like Indonesian Jojo Christie would. A bulk of points came from Ayush’s dependable net interceptions. This one point, he tapped it down, seconds after the shuttle crossed the net and smiled widely, to show his mirth at a job well done.
But more than anything, Ayush neatly dispatched all vague, errant lifts and even flick serves to Shifeng’s forehand flank, with smashes that travelled like cannonballs – deep. There are a million things Ayush could improve on in his defense and movement on court and shot selection, but the smash, even a round-the-head or the conventional one struck at the highest point, is a finished product, ready to dismantle world hierarchies.
It travels at speed, stays within bounds with stinging urgency and lands on the backcourt. A sniper from a vantage. At 9-12, Ayush sent one into the net and he could save tiny energy by not grimacing and hopping around. But the very next point, he nailed one to Shifeng’s backhand and was soon level on 12-12, riding momentum, like a blazing comet’s tail. The beauty of the Ayush smash is that it doesn’t need to engage with the lines – even against a tall retriever like Shifeng, who couldn’t react quickly enough.
In fact, Ayush had trailed mostly for the first half of the second set, but made his way back with crisp shot-making and taking the attack to the Chinese. Every Ayush kill was greeted by silence rent with disappointment from the Chinese crowd at Ningbo Olympic Center.
The 21-13, 21-16 victory came from a similar smash – though this time Shifeng, who had been pumping his fists start of the set, didn’t even move and returned leaden-footed as a capacity crowd was silenced.
Irwansyah’s influence was evident in how Ayush did not prolong the rallies or get lured into needless midcourt exchanges. He can still get sharper and more controlled in defense, but the attack is flowing. He also takes those breathers needed to reorient the nervous energy after a point lost.
Coach Vimal Kumar lauded Ayush’s performance, saying, “The power, the precision, and those thunderous smashes — the Chinese had no answers, completely unable to read or react. A truly dim nant display, one to watch for future.”
Ayush is still vulnerable against opponents who play a certain gear of the game, if not an entire style. While Shifeng pushing pace just did not work against him, his last two tournaments showed a chink in the armour. “Ayush played a similar match against Kodai Naraoka (at Australian Open in November), but next round, Lakshya completely outplayed him. At All England, Alwi (Farhan, of Indonesia) rushed him, and at Swiss, Brian Yang did the same. He will realise he cannot just hit sharp shots all the time. He has attacking clears that he can use,” Vimal said.
Ayush will be tested straight away against Taiwanese No 20 Chi Yu Jen on Thursday. “Let’s see tomorrow. This is just one round,” Vimal cautioned.
Those like Alwi and Frenchman Alex Lanier are as old as Ayush, and have worked on the consistency to start pushing out older players. It’s also why training under Irwansyah, who helped Indonesia’s top men’s singles, will help.
PV Sindhu, back on the court after missing the All England, showed the fight that keeps her in contention at the top level as she defeated World No 38 Malaysian Wong Ling Chin, 15-21, 21-11, 21-19 and next plays All England champ Wang Zhi Yi.
Also advancing was HS Prannoy, with a 24-22, 21-12 win over Vietnamese Nguyen Hai Dang. It was a typical slow start from Prannoy at 7-12 in the first, before he made the move at 18-20 with three straight points, and then sailed through the second. He plays Weng Hong Yang in a Malaysian Masters rematch.
India’s biggest loss was Lakshya, who went down to Lee Cheuk Yiu, 21-12, 21-19. Tanvi Sharma was lackluster in her 21-19, 21-14 defeat to Letshanaa Karupathevan, while Kidambi Srikanth was spent after the first, losing 21-18, 9-21, 11-21 to Loh Kean Yew.
Ayush has been reassigned to the training group at Bangalore that has PV Sindhu in it.
“We have put together a young group of players to train under Irwansyah alongside Sindhu at our Academy as part of the National camp. Among the girls, Devika Sihag and Isha Rani Barua are included. On the boys’ side, we have promising players like Ansh Negi (current U-19 National Champion), Suryaksh Rawat, a few other upcoming boys, and Ayush Shetty has also joined over the last two weeks,” Vimal informed. Lakshya remains in another group under the Korean coach.
