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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.

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New Delhi: A significant political controversy has erupted following the Modi government's decision to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a move that has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties. The row was further fueled by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who, while defending the name change, erroneously claimed that Mahatma Gandhi had made the devotional song "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram" India’s national anthem.

The central government has rebranded the flagship rural employment scheme from MGNREGA to the "Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission," abbreviated as VB-G RAM G. The removal of Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme has been termed an insult to the Father of the Nation by the Congress and other opposition parties.

When questioned by the media outside Parliament regarding the opposition's allegations, Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut defended the government's decision by invoking Mahatma Gandhi's devotion to Lord Ram.

"How is naming it 'Ram Ji' an insult to Gandhi ji?" Ranaut asked. "Mahatma Gandhi made 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' the national anthem to organize the entire country. Therefore, this is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi? The government is fulfilling his dream by giving it the name of Ram."


Ranaut's claim regarding the national anthem was immediately seized upon by the opposition. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared the video of Ranaut’s statement on social media, tweeting sarcastically, "Come on brother, today we learned a new national anthem! The BJP is full of such gems."

Social media users also trolled the MP for the factual error. One user quipped, "Kangana ji forgot to mention that Bapu made this the national anthem after the country got independence in 2014," while another commented that the party finds people who "don't use their brains while forwarding WhatsApp messages."

Beyond the social media mockery, senior Congress leaders criticised the renaming on ideological grounds. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the move.

"The biggest irony is that Mahatma Gandhi was a lifelong devotee of Lord Ram and said 'Hey Ram' in his last moments," Gehlot wrote. "Today, the central government is making a despicable attempt to sideline Gandhi ji under the guise of the same 'Ram' name (VB-G RAM G), which is highly condemnable."

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