Chinese defender Shi Yuqi suffered an unexpected defeat in the first round of the BWF World Championships held in New Delhi on Monday. He lost the three-game match against Indian player Ayush Shetty.
The world number one managed to recover after losing the first set, but Shetty managed to stop the favorite's late onslaught and won with a score of 21-14, 13-21, 21-19, concluding the match in 73 minutes.
Shetty, debuting at the World Championships, led in the decisive set with a score of 11-5 before Shi narrowed the gap to one point in a tense finish. The twenty-one-year-old Indian player completed the match, securing his first victory in four encounters against the Chinese star.
This result marked a significant change compared to their previous meeting at the Asian Badminton Championships in April, where Shi achieved a convincing victory over Shetty with a score of 21-8, 21-10 in the men's singles final, winning his only individual title of the season.
Other Chinese men showed mixed results: Li Shifeng easily defeated Dmitry Panarin from Kazakhstan with a score of 21-7, 21-10, while player number 16, Wang Hunyang, was eliminated after losing to Yoshi Tanaka from Japan with a score of 21-17, 21-14.
In women's singles, Wang Zhiyi started confidently, defeating Beiwen Zhang from the USA in just 36 minutes with a score of 21-12, 21-13, to advance to the second round. Player five, Han Yue, recovered after losing the first set and beat Kirsty Gilmore from Scotland with a score of 20-22, 21-13, 21-13.
It should also be noted that the world number one from South Korea, An Se-young, began her campaign with a victory over Kaloyana Nalbanova from Bulgaria with a score of 21-14, 21-13.
China achieved clean success in the doubles matches of the day. In the men's category, Huang Di and Liu Yang defeated Zhiyi Chen and Presley Smith from the USA with a score of 21-14, 21-16, while Hu Zeyuan and Lin Xiangyi easily overcame Yann Orteu and Ming Quan Pham from Switzerland with a score of 21-6, 21-10.
In women's doubles, Luo Yi and Wang Tingge defeated Katherine Wang and Mette Verge from Denmark with a score of 21-11, 21-15, advancing to the 32nd round.