- By Gurmeet Batra
- Thu, 20 Nov 2025 05:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Australian Open: Young shuttler Ayush Shetty and Lakshya Sen scripted contrasting victories at the Australian Open, setting up an eagerly-awaited all-Indian quarterfinal showdown.
Meanwhile, senior campaigners HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth were knocked out in early-round upsets on Thursday.
The top-seeded Indian men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty comfortably progressed to the quarterfinals, dominating Chinese Taipei's Su Ching Heng and Wu Guan Xun 21-18, 21-11 in a brisk 37-minute encounter.
The Satwik-Chirag pair will now square off against the fifth-seeded Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the quarterfinals.
Ayush, champion of the Yonex US Open Super 300 tournament earlier this year, beat fourth-seeded Kodai Naraoka 21-17, 21-16 in a contest lasting 68 minutes.
The 20-year-old's victory marked his second win over the world No. 9 Japanese this year. Lakshya himself had a challenging battle, coming from behind to defeat Chinese Taipei's Chi Yu Jen 21-17, 13-21, 21-13 in a hard-fought 63-minute clash.
The higher-ranked Japanese gave Ayush a tough fight as the lead kept changing hands before the Indian, who was leading 18-17, took the last three points to win the opening game.
The second game was clearly one-sided, despite the Japanese keeping pace with Shetty until 14-all, before the Indian extended his game a few incisions to win five straight points and lead 19-14, ultimately closing out the match.
However, Prannoy, who has not moved beyond the pre-quarterfinals this year, could not keep up with eighth seed and former junior world champion Indonesian Farhan Alwi, losing 19-21, 10-21 in 42 minutes in the Super 500 event.