Ayush Shetty clinches maiden BWF World Tour title at US Open; Tanvi Sharma finishes runner-up

Iowa: Indian badminton star Ayush Shetty has secured his inaugural BWF World Tour title, delivering a commanding performance to defeat Canada's Brian Yang in the men's singles final of the US Open Super 300. With this title Indian badminton, has ended a season-long title drought.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma finished as the women's singles runner-up in her first World Tour final.

The 20-year-old Ayush Shetty, a bronze medalist at the 2023 junior world championships, overcame the third-seeded Brian Yang with a decisive 21-18, 21-13 victory in a 47-minute encounter on Sunday. In the semifinals, fourth-seeded Ayush Shetty pulled off a significant upset, triumphing over the top seed and world No. 6, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

The men's singles final commenced with an even exchange of points, reaching a 6-6 deadlock. However, Shetty bounced back with a series of winners to establish an 11-6 lead at the mid-game interval. Although Yang managed to narrow the deficit to 13-11 and briefly level the score at 16-16, Shetty regained control with precise shot placement, concluding the opening game with a decisive jump smash. Shetty sealed his maiden World Tour title with a well-executed cross-court punch followed by a powerful smash.

In the women's singles final, Tanvi Sharma finished as the runner-up to the top-seeded American, Beiwen Zhang. Playing in her debut World Tour final, the unseeded teenager battled valiantly through three games, eventually succumbing with a scoreline of 11-21, 21-16, 10-21 in 46 minutes. Sharma initially struggled to find her rhythm in the opening game, allowing Zhang to build an 11-5 lead that proved insurmountable. However, the Indian teenager displayed remarkable resilience in the second game, adopting an aggressive approach to establish an early 4-0 lead. Despite Zhang's efforts to push her with extended rallies, Sharma maintained her advantage and, from an 11-9 lead at the interval, continued her assertive play, forcing errors from Zhang to claim the game and push the match into a decider. Unfortunately, Sharma appeared to run out of steam in the decisive third game, as Zhang swiftly surged to an 11-4 lead at the break and comfortably closed out the match to secure the title.