India’s rising badminton star Ayush Shetty stole the spotlight at the Orleans Masters 2025, delivering a stunning upset against former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the opening round on Wednesday. Shetty, ranked 48th in the world, needed just 36 minutes to dismantle the world No. 12 and third seed 21-17, 21-9 at the Palais des Sports in France.
The emphatic win saw Shetty dominate Loh with aggressive shot-making and sharp court coverage, leaving the Singaporean with no answers. The 21-year-old Indian will now face Hong Kong China’s Jason Gunawan in the pre-quarterfinals, aiming to continue his dream run at the BWF Super 300 event.
Meanwhile, world No. 30 HS Prannoy marked his return to the BWF World Tour with a hard-fought victory over Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei. Prannoy took an hour and nine minutes to prevail 21-11, 20-22, 21-9, improving his head-to-head record against Wang to seven wins in nine meetings.
Prannoy’s next challenge will be world No. 14 Lin Chun-yi, the tournament’s second seed, in what promises to be a much sterner test.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also enjoyed a smooth start, easing past Japan’s Koo Takahashi 21-19, 21-14 in 40 minutes. Srikanth’s reward is a high-profile clash against top seed Lee Zii Jia, the current world No. 8 and a former world champion, in the next round.
While there was plenty of joy for India’s men’s singles contingent, other players had a tougher day. Kiran George fell to Singapore’s Jason Teh after a promising start, losing 15-21, 21-16, 21-10. Sathish Kumar Karunakaran also bowed out after a 21-18, 21-11 loss to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.
The women’s singles campaign also saw mixed fortunes. World No. 28 Malvika Bansod was forced to retire from her match against Japan’s Riko Gunji due to injury, ending her campaign prematurely. Unnati Hooda faced the toughest challenge of all, going up against world No. 1 and top seed An Se-young. Despite fighting hard, Hooda went down 21-9, 21-15.
In mixed doubles, there was some consolation for India as Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde battled past Taiwan’s Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan in a marathon encounter. The Indian duo recovered from losing the first game to win 20-22, 24-22, 21-16. However, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh were ousted by Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei in straight games, 21-10, 21-15.
With Prannoy, Srikanth, and Shetty still in contention, India’s hopes for a deep run at the Orleans Masters remain alive, with the next rounds set to test their mettle against some of the world’s top shuttlers.
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