Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty admitted that he was outplayed by China’s Shi Yuqi in the men’s singles final at the Badminton Asia Championships 2026 on Sunday in Ningbo.

The 20-year-old Ayush fell to a quick 8-21, 10-21 defeat in a summit clash which was wrapped up in 42 minutes.

“As for the final, I’m a bit disappointed. I really wanted to have a great match but Shi Yuqi was by far the better player. He really kept the pressure going and never let me come back into the match,” the Indian said after the match.

“Definitely, there have been lot of learnings from the tournament. I have to work on my endurance and strength, and my variations from the back. It’s a good lesson for me,” he concluded.

Barring the loss in the summit clash, it was a memorable week for World No. 25 Ayush who became the seventh Indian to win a men’s singles medal at the event after Dinesh Khanna (gold in 1965 and bronze in 1969), Suresh Goel (bronze in 1965), Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1976), Pullela Gopichand (bronze in 2000), Anup Sridhar (bronze in 2007) and H. S. Prannoy (bronze in 2018).

Published on Apr 12, 2026