Hylo Open: Ayush Shetty upsets world champion Loh Kean Yew, Lakshya Sen wins comfortably

SAARBRUCKEN(Germany): Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty, Lakshya Sen, Kiran George and Rakshitha Ramesh stormed into the quarter-finals of the ongoing Hylo Open 2025 after winning their respective games of the competition here on Thursday.

Competing in the BWF Super 500 badminton tournament at the Saarlandhalle, the 20-year-old Ayush Shetty, 31st in the badminton rankings, stunned the 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-11, 21-11 in 34 minutes.

Ayush had also beaten Loh Kean Yew at the Orleans Masters earlier this year. He trailed 5-2 in the first game on Thursday, but the Indian badminton player mounted a comeback with seven straight points before gradually building on that momentum.

Ayush now leads Loh Kean Yew 2-0 in head-to-head records, according to Olympics.com.

Earlier in the day, Lakshya Sen, a Paris 2024 semi-finalist, also secured his second win over compatriot Sankar Subramanian in as many matches with a comfortable 21-14, 21-11 victory.

World No. 17 Lakhsya Sen, India’s best-ranked men’s singles player and a former Hylo Open champion, will next face fourth seed Alex Lanier of France for a place in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, world No. 38 Kiran George took 69 minutes to register an 18-21, 21-18, 21-19 upset win over the 13th-ranked Toma Junior Popov of France. Kiran had beaten former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in the first round.

In the women’s singles, Rakshitha overcame compatriot Shriyanshi Valishetty 19-21, 21-8, 21-13 in an all-Indian badminton affair. Rakshitha will meet Denmark’s sixth seed, Line Christophersen, according to Olympics.com.

Unnati Hooda will face Danish eighth seed Julie Jakobsen later in the day. Meanwhile, the onus of keeping India’s doubles hopes alive in Germany rests with Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde, who are set to face Danish opponents. (ANI)