Rising Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty displayed his brilliance to knock out Paris 2024 bronze medalist Lee Zii Jia 21-12, 21-17 in the first round of the Malaysia Open 2026 on Tuesday.
Shetty took 39 minutes to knock out the home favorite at the Stadium Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
This was the first time Shetty faced-off the Malaysian ace. Zii Jia made an early comeback to badminton in a bid to arrest his slide in the BWF World Rankings.
The Indian will next take on Shi Yu Qi of the People’s Republic of China, the reigning world champion and top seed.
Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen advanced to the next round after defeating Jia Heng Jason Teh of Singapore 21-16, 15-21, 21-14 in a three-game thriller.
In the women’s singles, Malvika Bansod suffered an early loss against seventh seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-11, 21-11.
MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan lost 21-10, 22-20 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita to bow out of men’s doubles.
PV Sindhu and premier India men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will begin their campaign from Wednesday.
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