Ayush Shetty advances to second round of Indonesia Open
Ayush Shetty battled back from a game down to defeat China’s Weng Hong Yang and enter the second round of the Indonesia Open. Mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani also advanced after upsetting a higher-ranked Chinese Taipei combination
Hyderabad: Former world junior bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and the mixed doubles combination of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani registered hard-fought wins to advance to the second round of the Indonesia Open badminton tournament on Wednesday.
Shetty defeated China’s Weng Hong Yang 8-21, 22-20, 21-15, while Rohan and Ruthvika upset world No. 20 pair Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-14 to advance.
Thomas Cup 2026 bronze medallist Ayush came from a game down to beat world No. 15 Weng for the second time in a row. Though he surrendered the first game, Ayush took an early lead in the second with a four-point advantage at 8-4. Weng reacted quickly to close the gap, reaching his second game point. From 19-20, the Indian scored three crucial points to force a decider.
While the second game was an intense battle, Shetty earned a comfortable six-point lead in the decider and maintained the advantage to close out the match in one hour and six minutes. The Indian had defeated Weng previously at the Thomas Cup in April. He next meets Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, who upset fourth seed Christo Popov.
In mixed doubles, Rohan and Ruthvika outplayed the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei pair of Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang in straight games in just 34 minutes. A tough battle awaits as they meet defending champions Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France in the next round.
In women’s singles on Thursday, PV Sindhu faces a tough challenge against An Se Young as she seeks a place in the next round, while Hariharan and Arjun meet Malaysia’s Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai, who advanced after their opponents Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty retired during the opening game due to the former’s injury.
