Ayush Shetty clinches maiden BWF World Tour title at US Open; Tanvi finishes runner-up
Iowa (US), Jun 30 (PTI): Rising shuttler Ayush Shetty notched up his first BWF World Tour title with a commanding straight-games victory over Canada's Brian Yang in the men's singles final of the US Open Super 300, ending India's title drought this season.
The 20-year-old, a 2023 junior world championships bronze winner, defeated the third seeded Yang 21-18 21-13 in 47 minutes on Sunday to cap off an impressive week, which included a come-from-behind win against top seed Chou Tien Chen in the semifinals.
It was Shetty's third victory over Yang, having defeated him twice earlier this year at Malaysia and Taipei Open.
"It means a lot, it's my first title in the senior circuit. So I'm really happy," the 6 ft-4 inch shuttler told BWF.
"There are a lot of positives to take away. I played some excellent badminton here, and I'm looking forward to the Canada Open next week."
In the women's singles final, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma finished runner-up after a fighting three-game loss to top seed Beiwen Zhang of the United States.
Playing her first World Tour final, the unseeded teenager went down 11-21 21-16 10-21 in 46 minutes.
"I'm very happy with my performance. I was a bit nervous before entering the court, and I made many mistakes. This is my first Super 300 final, so I'm happy about that," Tanvi said.
Shetty vs Yang
The men's singles final began evenly with scores tied at 6-6, but Shetty, seeded fourth, surged ahead with a string of winners to lead 11-6 at the interval.
Yang narrowed the gap to 13-11 and drew level at 16-16, but Shetty regained control with well-placed shots to secure the opening game with a decisive jump smash.
The second game saw the Mangalore shuttler race to a 7-2 lead before Yang briefly caught up, but the Indian maintained composure, mixing variations and sharp defence to keep his opponent at bay.
Leading 17-12, Shetty closed out the match with a cross-court punch followed by a powerful smash to seal his maiden World Tour title.
"He was defending quite well in the first game. I varied my smashes a bit, played some half-smashes and drops and that made a difference," said Shetty.
"In the first game I was hurrying a bit playing some sharp strokes. In the second game I was more confident, I opened up the game and that made the difference."
Shetty had reached the finals of 2023 Odisha Masters Super 100 tournament, besides making the summit clash at the 2023 Bahrain International and 2024 Dutch Open.
Tanvi vs Zhang
In the women's singles final, Tanvu struggled to settle early as Zhang built an 11-5 lead in the opening game, which the Indian couldn't breach.
In the second game, Tanvi came out attacking, taking a 4-0 lead and maintaining her advantage despite Zhang pushing her with long rallies.
From 11-9 at the interval, the Indian continued her aggressive approach, forcing errors from Zhang and taking the game to force a decider.
However, Tanvi ran out of steam in the third game as Zhang surged to an 11-4 lead at the break and closed out the match comfortably to claim the title.
The moment you were waiting for. 🏆🇮🇳
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) June 30, 2025
Ayush Shetty stands tall as the US Open Champion, while Tanvi Sharma finishes strong with a silver to remember.
A proud day for Indian badminton two rising stars delivering on the big stage.#Ayushshetty #USopen2025 #IndianBadminton pic.twitter.com/gL0x2lV9B2
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
