Promising Indian shuttlers Tanvi Sharma and Ayush Shetty advanced to the finals of the US Open Badminton Tournament with contrasting victories, continuing their impressive campaigns at the BWF Super 300 event.
Unseeded 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma delivered a commanding performance in the women’s singles semifinal, defeating seventh seed Polina Buhrova of Ukraine in straight games, 21-14, 21-16. The match lasted just 34 minutes and marked Tanvi’s second career win over Buhrova.
The rising Indian star now faces a formidable opponent in the final—top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States.
In the men’s singles semifinal, fourth-seeded Ayush Shetty pulled off a major upset by toppling top seed and world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. After narrowly losing the first game, Ayush bounced back with resilience to seal a 21-23, 21-15, 21-14 victory in a high-intensity battle that lasted over an hour.
He now sets up a final clash with Canada’s third seed Brian Yang, who made light work of Liao Jhuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei, winning 21-10, 21-12 in the other semifinal.
Quarterfinal Momentum Fuels Indian Charge
Both Indian shuttlers had shown excellent form in the quarterfinals. Tanvi defeated Malaysia’s higher-ranked Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-13, 21-16 in a composed display, while Ayush produced a dominant performance against junior world champion Kuo Kuan Lin of Chinese Taipei, winning 22-20, 21-9.
With both Tanvi and Ayush now one win away from clinching the title, Indian hopes are high for a golden finish to their remarkable US Open run.
(with PTI inputs)