BENGALURU: Following his impressive runner-up finish at the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in April , Ayush Shetty has struggled to hit the same stride. A minor elbow injury in June did not help, and the Mangaluruborn shuttler has since suffered three first-round exits and two second-round defeats in the last three months.The road ahead is set to get even tougher. Ayush, ranked World No. 23, will face World No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China in the opening round of the World Championships. Last week, an intrigued Ayush followed the Worlds draw live. There was little reaction when he learnt that Shi would be his firstround opponent — perhaps understandable given the daunting challenge.The Chinese has beaten him in all three of their meetings and is among the favourites to defend his title. In their three encounters, Ayush has managed to take just one game off Shi, but the 21-year-old believes those defeats have also provided valuable lessons.“I will be more prepared and need to be tactically better this time,” said Ayush during a media interaction on Monday.“There’s no revenge kind of an emotion when I play (against Shi). But it’s a new tournament and a new match. It’ll be a tough battle, and you really have to work hard against him.”Playing in front of a home crowd brings its own pressures, but the lanky 6-foot-4-inch shuttler is embracing them.“There is pressure. But it’s more of excitement, you know, playing at home,” said the World No. 23 shuttler.
