4 min readApr 12, 2026 06:31 PM IST
One of the harshest realizations for Ayush Shetty amidst all the elation of a fantastic week, will be that big tournament finals like the Badminton Asia Championships, don’t come along every now and then. Or that his 21-8, 21-10 demolition by Shi Yuqi, deserved more resistance on his part.
Chinese World champion Shi Yuqi, who first reached the BAC finals in 2019, had to wait seven more years to get there again and finally win, at 30. A pandemic, a year-long soft-ban for discipline, two Olympic exits, and a video clip of a nasty toe-blister that he showed the world on TV scandalising his federation, caused one right kerkuffle, before he got a second chance in 2026, converting this one.
Ayush’s new training buddy, PV Sindhu, could tell him similar stuff about Olympic finals – stars just font align that often even if you start at 20-21.
Ayush’s clump of unforced errors in the first set at the BAC Ningbo finals against Shi Yuqi, might get glossed over because he’s had a sensational week, reaching the finals. But making that chance count, mattered plenty, and just reaching the finals could never be a reason to be content, just because he’s only 20.
Shi Yuqi is perhaps China’s most complete and classical player in men’s singles, since Lin Dan. The fluidity in his movement, his anticipation and clean strokemaking make him difficult to bully with power. He retrieves smoothly and has a dependable no-frills smash-kill that works on plscement and angles.
Ayush also lapsed into tactical anarchy himself – letting go of the discipline he had kept thus far. Maybe, he was exhausted or nervous, maybe he believed he had come far enough or more likely, maybe Shi Yuqi crowded him with precision, with 90 percent of his winners coming straight as arrows, unafraid of battling on the middle of the court. But very early, Shi Yuqi made it clear he wouldn’t be shaken off. Ayush trailed 0-4 at the start when the Chinese World No 2, send three body smashes, all parried by Ayush, and the fourth that went to the flanks while he was reeling from the attack.
But a whole lot of blame lay at Ayush’ door, when he smashed so far wide, the shuttle was well beyond the sideline. His lifts kept landing long as he seemed in a daze. The experienced Chinese, a decade older than the Indian who himself waited years for his first World title, was gliding around the court, and controlling the tempo and orientation of rallies, as Ayush fell behind 8-19. Two Yuqi smashes towards the end had Ayush nowhere in the frame, and he shanked the last shuttle of the set so far wide, the body language was a giveaway.
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Still, he had fought back from 21-10 in the semis, and mirroring yesterday, took a 7-2 lead in the second. But the Chinese had no intention of blinking or allowing himself to be razed down. He pulled 5 points back with patience and smarts, and that seemed to boggle Ayush who once more resumed his wild, erratic smashing. It was possibly the worst execution of the cliched advice of, “Just go out there, play freely and enjoy the occasion.” Ayush wasn’t lacking in effort, but he looked too tight and error-prone to stick it out.
At 8-13 came the longest rally, where the Chinese prevailed. Out of desperation, he raised his pace when he fell back 9-16 but the rigour to build the rhythm was gone, and he did the classic big attacker’s thing of trying to hit his way out, splotching many in the process. He was diving in defense alright, but not setting up his attack.
A fight in the stands that broke out in the stands over Shi Yuqi’s flung sweat-soaked shirt, lasted longer than any tug of war on court. A fifth straight good match was one too many, for the debutant who took home silver.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
