Ayush Shetty stuns world No. 9; Satwik–Chirag go into Australian Open quarterfinals

It turned out to be a solid day for Indian badminton at the Australian Open, with Ayush Shetty and the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty pushing their way into the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Ayush picked up one of the standout wins of the tournament, taking out world No. 9 Kenta Nishimoto in straight games. The youngster kept his tempo high, stayed aggressive at the net, and closed out the match 21–17, 21–16 to claim one of the biggest results of his season so far.

Satwik and Chirag followed it up with a tidy performance of their own. Up against Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han in the Round of 16, the Indians rarely looked under pressure. Sharp serves, quick interceptions, and clean finishing helped them wrap up the match 21–18, 21–11 and ease into the last eight.

India has had its moments in this tournament before. Saina Nehwal remains the only Indian to have won the women’s singles title here, twice, in fact. She beat Carolina Marin 21–18, 21–11 in 2014, and pulled off a determined three-game win over Sun Yu in the 2016 final.

Kidambi Srikanth added to that list a year later, getting the better of Chen Long 22–20, 21–16 in the 2017 final.

Current defending champions are:

Men’s singles: Lee Zii Jia

Women’s singles: Aya Ohori

Men’s doubles: He Jiting / Ren Xiangyu

Women’s doubles: Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma / Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi

Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang / Wei Yaxin

With Ayush picking up a big and Satwik–Chirag looking smooth and confident through the draw, India has two strong contenders heading into the business end of the tournament.