New Delhi: There is an old saying: if you do not concede, you do not lose. Young shuttler Ayush Shetty upheld that notion on the opening day of the BWF World Championships here at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Monday, August 17.

Ayush sent reigning world champion and top seed Shi Yuqi packing, marking a watershed moment for Indian badminton. The much-awaited arrival of the young shuttler on the big stage finally happened, as he made a flying start to the marquee event on his debut and gave India a solid men’s singles option beyond Lakshya Sen.

It has been five months since Ayush, playing his first major final at the Badminton Asia Championships in front of a boorish Chinese crowd in Ningbo, failed to put up much of a fight against Shi. But that loss – his third in a row to the Chinese star – prompted him and his support staff to work on his game and raise his level.

Even so, when the BWF World Championships draw pitted him against Shi again, Ayush saw a chance to snap his three-match losing streak against the Chinese star and make a big-bang start to the Delhi Worlds.

He arrived with a revamped game. While Ayush has always possessed a mighty jump smash, much like Viktor Axelsen, he added another asset to his weaponry ahead of the Worlds, training under the watchful gaze of Irwansyah Adi Pratama and Sagar Chopda – a fortified defence and a well-worked strategy.

Not only did he work on his game, but he also shook off his boyish, straight-faced demeanour. He expressed himself more freely on the court, not only fuelling his own fight but also making his opponent think about him. The result was a 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 win in 73 minutes.

Sagar Chopda, the head coach at the Centre for Badminton Excellence in Bengaluru, where Ayush trains, attributed his morale-boosting win to his changed game and his ability to deny Shi the opportunity to attack and command at the net.

“Everybody keeps talking about Ayush attack and his big smash but his defense was really, really good yesterday. And he controlled the rallies really well especially the first game if you watch Ayush play the first game, Ayush really did not give Shai Yuqi many opportunities. You know, he didn’t let Shi Yuqi control the net,” Sagar told Sports Now in an exclusive interview at the BWF Worlds.

There was a shade of brilliance and patience in Ayush’s shot selection as well. Instead of playing copybook badminton, he allowed his understanding of the court situation to dictate his choice of shots. He did not go for big smashes from the outset. Playing against the drift in the first game and then after the interval in the decider, Ayush executed high drops and half smashes perfectly, while choosing his down-the-line smashes wisely and keeping Shi guessing.

“He was a much better player at the net. Ayush used his downward strokes really well, not only hitting hard smashes, but using the drops and the half smashes really well. So I think it was a really great performance by Ayush against Shi,” said Sagar.

Even after he changed the side mid-game in the decider, he played smartly, winning four points in a row to extend his lead to 15-5.

“In the third game, Ayush had an 11-5 lead at the interval playing from the faster side. And then he had to change side which is the side where he lost the second game from. But the first four points that Ayush played was outstanding. He played a very smart game,” said Sagar.

Sagar, however, played down the advantage of the sideways drift for Ayush in the first game, pointing out that he brought his nuanced game into effect after the change of side in the third game – the side from which he had lost the second game.

“A player who handles the drift situation better wins. But here it is not very bad if you actually see. There is a little bit of sideways drift, which is slightly more than the front-back drift,” Sagar said.

As victory looked within sight, Ayush felt the nerves and became jittery. He made a slew of unforced errors. Shi, a dogged veteran of many seasons, fought his way back and made the young and inexperienced Indian nervous, winning 10 of 11 points after the interval in the third game.

From trailing 5-11 at one point, Shi gave a real scare to 21-year-old Ayush by trailing 19-20.

Shi Yuqi, despite being a seasoned pro, was always under pressure from the moment he landed in New Delhi. He avoided mandatory media interaction ahead of the opener against Ayush.

But a player of his calibre never gives up, and at 17-7, he slowly started crawling back into the match. He started controlling the net much better.

Talking about the crunch moment, Sagar said it was pretty normal for Ayush to feel the pressure, finding himself so close to a big win on his debut.

“It’s his first world championship. You know any player in that position would want to close out the match, you know. He needed only four points to close out the match. But then yes, he became nervous and which is obvious,” Sagar, sympathetic of his ward, said.

Such matches test the mental fortitude of players. Ayush eventually prevailed in the game 21-19, closing out the match with a brilliant deceptive shot to get his campaign rolling.

“Matches like these will help Ayush grow as a player. I’m sure that next time when he plays he’ll handle it much better,” he said.

For Sagar, Ayush’s winning shot stood out – the kind of shot, he said, that no coach can teach a player and that comes with instinct.

“Ayush was little jittery but you can never expect easy points from Shi Yuqi and I would think all of us should give a lot of credit to Ayush for the way he kept his composure at the end. The last shot that he actually played the deceptive shot that he played I mean, no, no coach can actually tell you or teach you to play that, you know, it just comes with instinct,” said Sagar, who was on the coaches’ chair during the match.

Ayush’s win against Shi has also raised hopes of a deeper run for the Mangalore boy, more so after the fact that Loh Kean Yew won the Worlds gold in 2021 after beating defending champion Viktor Axelsen in 2021.

He is going to face Dumindu Abeywickrama of Sri Lanka in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.

Sagar, however, said they would take it one match at a time.

“There are no easy matches at an event like this and there will be statistics there. There are already a lot of stats on social media that have been circulated. But as a team, I feel all of us are focused on tomorrow’s match rather than thinking about ahead in the tournament,” Sagar signed off.