Ayush Shetty was the lone Indian left at the Badminton Asia Championships as the rest, including PV Sindhu, suffered second-round losses in Ningbo, China on Thursday. World no. 25 Ayush eased past world no. 20 Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-12. He is one win away from the medal round.Sindhu faltered against Chinese second seed Wang Zhi Yi 18-21, 8-21. With Unnati Hooda’s 17-21, 9-21 loss to Tomoka Miyazaki of Japan, India’s challenge ended in women’s singles. Returning after an injury layoff, Prannoy went down fighting to Weng Hong Yang of China 12-21, 19-21.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost to Malaysian fourth seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 13-21, 14-21. In women’s doubles, Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra lost to the fifth-seeded Japanese duo of Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto 10-21, 13-21.After knocking out seventh seed Li Shi Feng on Wednesday, Ayush made short work of Chi. Facing Ayush for the first time, Chi earned a 10-6 lead in the first game. The 20-year-old Indian won the next three points by playing a patient game. From 13-14, Ayush made it 17-14. Staying close to the net, Ayush waited patiently for his chances. Even when he was up 20-16, he played a 29-shot rally and forced Chen to make the mistake.Ayush used the same tactics in the second game. Standing tall at the center of the court, the lanky Indian dictated the pace with his good work at the net. At 4-6, Ayush came up with a six-point burst. With another three consecutive points from 13-9, he gained a substantial lead and closed out the match. Ayush will face third seed Jonathan Christie of Indonesia in the quarterfinals.
