India’s second-highest ranked men’s singles badminton player Ayush Shetty secured his first BWF World Tour title with a dominant win at the US Open 2025, defeating third seed Brian Yang of Canada 21-18, 21-13 in the men’s singles final on Sunday (June 29).

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The 20-year-old rising star from Karnataka, Ayush became the first Indian to win a World Tour title this season.

The victory capped off a stellar week for Ayush, who also stunned World No. 6 and top seed Chou Tien-Chen in the semifinals to underline his potential on the big stage.

“It means a lot — it’s my first title on the senior circuit. So I’m really happy. 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,” he said after the final.

Who is Ayush Shetty?

Ayush is a 2023 junior world championships bronze winner. He is ranked 31 in the world in men’s singles.

He had reached the final of 2023 Odisha Masters Super 100 tournament, besides making the summit clash at the 2023 Bahrain International and 2024 Dutch Open.

Sunday’s win was Ayush’s third victory over Yang, having defeated him twice earlier this year at Malaysia and Taipei Open.

Ayush started playing badminton at the age of eight, after watching his father play in the backyard. He hails from Sanoor near Karkala in Karnataka. Later, he relocated to Bengaluru, according to a report in Scroll.

“The initial few months were tough. But at that point, I was only playing state and national level tournaments and not competing internationally, so the financial strain was not much,” he was quoted as saying in the report.