Now Reading: Ayush Shetty exits BWF Worlds after straight-game loss to Alwi Farhan
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Ayush Shetty exits BWF Worlds after straight-game loss to Alwi Farhan
India's Ayush Shetty lost to Indonesia's Alwi Farhan 21-19, 21-11 in 45 minutes in the men's singles Round of 16 at the BWF World Championships in New Delhi on Thursday. Farhan, who had lost to Shetty at the China Open in July, neutralised the Indian's trademark jump smashes by keeping the shuttle low and dominating the net, leaving Shetty unable to attack from the backcourt.
"It's a bit tricky because my ex-coach was his coach, so I changed my game style," Farhan told Times Now. Shetty admitted Farhan "was playing really sharp" and put "a lot of pressure from the net." The head-to-head record is now 3-2 in Farhan's favour. Shetty, seeded 14th, had beaten Chinese shuttler Shi in his opener but could not counter the Indonesian's flat returns and agile court coverage in front of a capacity crowd at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This was the BWF World Championships, the sport's premier annual individual event, where ranking points and seeding for the 2028 Olympics cycle are at stake. Ayush Shetty, 20, is India's second-highest ranked men's singles player behind Lakshya Sen, and a loss to a peer like Farhan, ranked 32nd globally, slows his climb into the top 20. The match also had a coaching subtext: Farhan's former coach now works with Shetty, giving the Indonesian inside knowledge. The head-to-head is now 3-2 in Farhan's favour, with the decisive next meeting likely at the 2025 Indonesia Open in June, where Shetty will need to counter the net-focused tactic that beat him here.
Source: timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
