Ayush Shetty won his maiden BWF World Tour title of the US Open Super 300 on Sunday, ending India’s title drought this season.
The 20-year-old defeated third seeded Canada’s Brian Yang 21-18, 21-13 in 47 minutes in the men’s singles final.
In the women’s singles final, Tanvi Sharma finished runner-up after losing 11-21, 21-16, 10-21 to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States in 46 minutes. The unseeded teenager became the youngest Indian ever to reach a final on the BWF World Tour.
Shetty registered third win over Yang, having defeated him twice earlier this year at the Malaysia and Taipei Open.
He kickstarted his campaign with a win over Danish world no 85 Magnus Johannesen 21-17, 21-19 before overcoming compatriot Tharun Mannepalli 21-12, 13-21, 21-15 in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, he got the better of world no 70 Kuo Kuan Lin 22-20, 21-9.
His biggest win of the tournament came in the semifinals, when Shetty came-from-behind to beat top seed and world no 6 Chou Tien Chen 21-23, 21-15, 21-14 in 67 minutes. He had lost to Chen at the Taipei Open semifinals.
Lakshya Sen’s triumph at the Canada Open in 2023 was the last time an Indian won a men’s singles title away from home.
Meanwhile, Tanvi too was unstoppable through the week. She started her campaign with a straight-set win over second-seeded Vietnamese Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-19, 21-9 in the opening round.
Her second round opponent was former Junior World Champion Pitchamon Opatniputh of Thailand, whom the Indian beat 21-18, 21-16. Tanvi went on to beat Malaysia’s Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-13, 21-6.
In the semifinal, Tanvi registered a dominant 21-14, 21-16 win over seventh seed Polina Buhrova of Ukraine.
