Ayush Shetty defeats All England final Lee Chia-hao to set up R16 clash against Srikanth Kidambi

Continuing his good form on the BWF circuit this year, world No. 44 Ayush Shetty defeated world No. 13 Lee Chia Hao 21-17, 21-18 to notch up an upset at the Taipei Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Wednesday. Ayush, who had earlier this year reached the semifinal at Orleans Masters with a series of good wins, was impressive in his clash against the All England 2025 final Lee as he set up a round of 16 meeting against Indian veteran Srikanth Kidambi
The tall Mangalorean is a former World Junior bronze medall and impressed Viktor Axelsen last year after a sparring stint with the Danish superstar. In the opening game, he recovered from a slow start where he was down 3-7 to stay in touch with the speedy right-hander who produced a stunning run in Birmingham few weeks back at the prestigious All England. In the endgame, Ayush pushed ahead from 16-16 to take the lead.
Lee was bound to make a comeback, especially playing at his home event, and in the second game Ayush trailed for majority of the time. Down 15-17, it seemed Ayush would have had to contend with playing the decider but a combination of errors from Lee, who repeatedly missed the lines while attempting to smash, and the Indian keeping things steady at the front court, he reeled off 5 straight points to have match point opportunities. The point at 17-17 was critical and a fine illustration of Ayush’s all-court game as he wrong-footed Lee with a tap at the net. Ayush eventually prevailed in 50 minutes.
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Ayush will next face former world No 1 Srikanth, who overcame another Indian Junior Worlds medall in Sankar Subramanian 21-16 21-15 in just 35 minutes. Ayush and Srikanth have faced twice on the BWF circuit, winning one each, with the youngster prevailing the last time they met at the Indonesia Masters earlier this year in January.
Earlier in the day, Tarun Mannepalli also reached the men’s singles prequarterfinals with a hard-fought 21-12, 19-21, 21-17 win against Japan’s Shogo Ogawa.
In women’s singles, teenager Unnati Hooda progressed to the pre-quarters with a victory over compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya.