Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty made headlines when he clinched the BWF World Tour on Sunday by defeating Canada's Brian Yang 21-18, 21-13 in the men's singles final of the US Open Super 300 at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
However, the 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma went down fighting in her first World Tour final, as the unseeded teenager lost 11-21, 21-16, 10-21 in 46 minutes to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States.
Speaking of Ayush, the 2023 junior World championships bronze winner defeated the Canadian shuttler in 47 minutes on Sunday to cap off an impressive week, which included a come-from-behind win against top seed Chou Tien Chen in the semifinals.
It was Shetty's third victory over Yang, having defeated him twice earlier this year at Malaysia and Taipei Open.
Shetty vs Yang
The men's singles final began evenly with scores tied at 6-6, but Shetty, seeded fourth, surged ahead with a string of winners to lead 11-6 at the interval
Yang narrowed the gap to 13-11 and drew level at 16-16, but Shetty regained control with well-placed shots to secure the opening game with a decisive jump smash.
The second game saw the Mangalore shuttler race to a 7-2 lead before Yang briefly caught up, but the Indian maintained composure, mixing variations and sharp defence to keep his opponent at bay.
Leading 17-12, Shetty closed out the match with a cross-court punch followed by a powerful smash to seal his maiden World Tour title.
Shetty had reached the finals of 2023 Odisha Masters Super 100 tournament, besides making the summit clash at the 2023 Bahrain International and 2024 Dutch Open.
(With PTI inputs)
