India’s Ayush Shetty added to his growing reputation as the 20-year-old upset local favourite and Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medal winner Lee Zii Jia in the opening round of the Malaysia Open 2026 badminton tournament on Tuesday.
Competing at the Stadium Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Ayush Shetty, 32nd in the men’s singles badminton rankings, beat former world No. 2 Jia 21-12, 21-17 in 39 minutes to progress to the second round.
This was Shetty’s first outing against the Malaysian ace, who was returning to competitive badminton after a three-month-long rehab. Jia endured an injury-hit 2025 and hasn’t played since retiring hurt from his first-round match at the China Masters last September.
Jia had brought forward his return to the court by a couple of months in order to arrest his slide down the world rankings with an eye on the impending qualification window for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Ayush Shetty, who won the US Open last year and upset former world champion Loh Kean Yew at the Hylo Open, will play the People’s Republic of China’s Shi Yu Qi, the reigning world champion and top seed, next.
Lakshya Senthe Paris 2024 semi-finalist who lost out on the bronze medal after losing to Jia, will also be in action in the second round of the men’s singles event at the Malaysia Open after defeating Jia Heng Jason Teh of Singapore 21-16, 15-21, 21-14 in a three-game thriller.
This was the Indian badminton player’s fifth win in as many matches against Teh, ranked 21st in the world.
Lakshya, currently world No. 13, will face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China in the next round of the season-opening BWF Super 1000 tournament. He could come across Shetty in the quarter-finals should both make it through.
In women’s singles, India’s Malvika Bansod, making her return after a six-month layoff due to a knee injury, suffered an early exit following a 21-11, 21-11 loss to seventh seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the opening round.
MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan lost 21-10, 22-20 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita to bow out of men’s doubles.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhureturning to the court after three months, and Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will start their campaigns from Wednesday.
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