New Delhi: India’s Ayush Shetty pulled off the biggest win of his career on Monday, knocking out world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China in a thrilling opening-round contest at the BWF World Championships 2026 in New Delhi.
The 21-year-old, ranked 22nd in the world, held his nerve against the 30-year-old defending world champion to seal a stunning 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 victory on his World Championships debut.
Ayush had gone into the match with a 0-3 head-to-head record against Shi Yuqi, though two of those meetings had been closely contested. Shi Yuqi had edged him 21-19, 21-19 at last year’s Indonesia Masters, and had needed three games and over an hour to get past him in the round of 16 at this year’s Malaysia Open, according to olympics.com.
Their most recent meeting had been far more one-sided, with Shi Yuqi winning 21-8, 21-10 in the Badminton Asia Championships final in Ningbo in April. At the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Monday, however, Ayush showed how much he had grown since that defeat.
The Indian made a strong start, racing to an 8-3 lead and extending it to 13-6 before closing out the opening game 21-14. Shi Yuqi hit back in the second game, with the contest tied at 8-8 before the Chinese shuttler gradually took control, moving five points clear at 15-10 and then winning four straight points to force a decider.
The final game was locked at 3-3 before Ayush pulled away, winning three consecutive points to lead 11-5 at the interval. He held off a late fightback from Shi Yuqi to complete a famous win over the world No. 1.
Elsewhere, PV Sindhu began her women’s singles campaign with a straight-game win over Ireland’s Sophia Noble. The ninth-seeded Indian, a two-time Olympic medallist and five-time World Championships medallist, beat the world No. 141 21-7, 21-11 in 29 minutes. Sindhu, the 2019 world champion, will next face Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in the round of 32.
Earlier in the day, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advanced to the women’s doubles second round with a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win over Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez, needing just 33 minutes. The Commonwealth Games medallists will next face USA’s 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Quynh Lee.
Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi also progressed to the women’s doubles round of 32, beating Spain’s Nikol Carulla and Carmen Maria Jimenez 22-20, 21-14 in 46 minutes.
In the men’s doubles, MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan advanced after their Irish opponents Scott Guildea and Paul Reynolds retired hurt. The Indian pair, ranked No. 24 in the world, had taken the first game 21-16 and led 6-4 in the second when the Irish duo were forced to withdraw. India’s pair will next meet Republic of Korea’s 15th seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju in the round of 32.
The BWF World Championships is being held in India for the first time since 2009, with the 30th edition running from August 17 to 23. India have won 15 medals at the World Championships, claiming at least one medal at every edition since 2011.
