The opening day of the 2026 BWF World Championships delivered a stunning shock as India’s Ayush Shetty eliminated China’s world No.1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the men’s singles Round of 64.
Playing in front of a home crowd in New Delhi, the 21-year-old Indian produced the biggest victory of his career, defeating Shi 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 after a tense three-game battle.
The result was particularly remarkable because Shetty had lost all three of his previous meetings with Shi.
The Indian, however, produced a fearless performance on home soil.
Shetty took command of the opening game 21-14, using aggressive attacking play and strong defence to unsettle the defending champion.
Shi responded in the second, producing a composed performance to level the match 21-13.
Everything came down to the decider. Shetty established a strong 11-5 advantage and then withstood a late comeback from the experienced Chinese star to close out the match 21-19.
The home crowd erupted as Shetty completed one of the greatest victories of his young career.
For Shi Yuqi, the loss is a devastating end to his World Championship campaign.
The Chinese star arrived in New Delhi as both world No.1 and defending world champion, having won the 2025 men’s singles title in Paris.
Instead of embarking on another deep run, Shi’s title defence ended after just one match.
More significantly, the early elimination places his position at the top of the BWF rankings under serious threat.
Shi’s ranking advantage over Kunlavut had been built around his strong results and his defending champion points. With his title defence ending in the opening round, those ranking points will no longer be protected at the same level.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn is therefore poised to return to the men’s singles world No.1 position, pending Kunlavut’s performance in this tournament, which the Thai shuttler needs to reach the finals at least to retain the points.
It would mark another dramatic swing in one of badminton’s most competitive ranking battles.
