How Ayush Shetty gave Indian badminton fans another smash hit to savour



New DelhiAug 17, 2026 11:53 PM IST India's Ayush Shetty in action at the Badminton World Championships. (Photo: BAI)The running joke in Bengaluru among his training group of sparrers and coaches was that Ayush Shetty would check into the Delhi hotel for the Badminton World Championships and scotch-tape a poster on the long mirror. ’17th August will be a very bad day for Shi Yuqi’, the scrawled graffiti was to say. The 21-year-old badminton star from Mangaluru almost didn’t see the manifestation play out when the Chinese defending champ and World No.1 dragged out his own end to a tantalising score of 21-14, 13-21, 21-19. But August 17 did end up as a wretched day for contemporary badminton’s most complete shuttler, the elegant Yuqi. Every step of his first-round exit was serenaded and sweated by an adoring crowd that watched the 6-ft-4 Indian soar at the Indira Gandhi arena, with a smash that took out the fancied Chinese.Yuqi joined Lee Chong Wei in 2017 and Viktor Axelsen in 2021 in the ignominy of a first-round exit by a top name, though Ayush, ranked No.22, is way past being dubbed an upstart. “I’m feeling great, it’s a really special win and I’m super happy with the way I played today,” Ayush said. “I knew it would be a really tough match and I really had to work very hard. I was mentally prepared, physically as well.” India’s Ayush Shetty celebrates a point at the Badminton World Championships. (Photo: BAI)The signs were evident on Saturday when Yuqi refused to talk to the Indian media, choosing a $5000 fine instead. He had refused to speak to the Chinese press pack too. In training, the Chinese coaches stood on wooden crates to mimic the steep Ayush smash that comes from eight feet high. But nothing could prepare the rhythmic shuttler for the cacophony of an aggressive Ayush and the throbbing Indian fortress. The reigning champion has had mental blocks against double Olympic champ Axelsen. There’s no respite in sight though, as the similarly towering Ayush – like a ghost from the past – starts whacking at him. The day had started with a hearty breakfast – Ayush’s favourite meal. Then Indonesian coach Irwansyah ran him through the tactics – something that was sorely missing at the Asian Championships final.Story continues below this ad Making the final was great. Yet, the towering shuttler needed a formal coronation that tips him to be a massive star of the future. It had to be Delhi. Having skipped lunch, Ayush chomped into Yuqi for his end meal. Coach Sagar Chopda recalls the discussion before Ayush stepped onto the court. “Ayush asked Irwansyah what the court drift was like, because he was sitting for the Sindhu match before that,” he said. Once that was clear, Ayush went about using the floaty lifts and clears that muddled Yuqi’s ability to connect smashes as the winds did their trick. Delhi was pressing its home advantage. “The tricky thing about drift is it messes with the timing of shots. That’s what Sindhu and Ayush were told – to find the timing and feel on the shots,” coach Vimal Kumar explained. Yuqi looked visibly tentative when both receiving and sending out the lobbed lifts.Story continues below this ad Too close for comfort The final game was Ayush’s wicked gift to Delhi. He led 17-7 before he panicked, rushed and made a hash of the advantage. “I was telling myself to calm down because I got nervous. He got close and managed to get back every shuttle,” the Indian said. “Everything I did, he somehow managed to retrieve it. So I was just telling myself to calm down and be aggressive.” As five match points whittled down to 1, Delhi’s partisan crowd shored up the nervy youngster. “I was super happy at how the crowd was standing up in the end in the stands cheering for me,” he acknowledged.Story continues below this ad Ayush was exhausted towards the end which explains the errors. Yuqi had read his cross-court pushes and was waiting for them. That was when the Indian pulled out a stroke he reserves fo

New DelhiAug 16, 2026 10:22 PM IST “Ultimately, whether this technological future serves justice or subverts it, will depend substantially on the habits we instil in our students today,” he said. (File photo)Technological innovations must make justice faster and not less fair, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Sunday while asking law schools to train students to meet the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. Speaking at the second edition of the Vice Chancellors’ Conclave organised by National Law University, Jodhpur, on the theme ‘Legal technology and its roadmap: Positioning law as a leader in legal technology’, the CJI said whatever path a student chooses after graduating in law, “they must be able to understand technology not as something external to legal reasoning, but as a part of the changing world in which they will work”.He added that “the responsibility of our law schools therefore is not simply to familiarise students with new tools, but to equip them with the judgement, adaptability and ethical grounding needed to use those tools responsibly in whichever sphere they enter”. “Ultimately, whether this technological future serves justice or subverts it, will depend substantially on the habits we instil in our students today,” he said. CJI Kant pointed out that there is “a defensive instinct to keep technology, particularly the newer generative tools, out of the classroom altogether” due to anxieties about the risks around it. He, however, added that prohibition was not the answer to that risk and changes of this nature do not wait for institutional comfort. “It is inevitable, and an institution that resists the inevitable does not stop it; it only forfeits its own role in shaping it. The better approach is to bring these tools into the classroom in a transparent, supervised manner, so that students learn not only how to use them, but also to use them appropriately and ethically. The questions of artificial intelligence and academic integrity are therefore among the most important questions legal education must confront today…,” the CJI said. The CJI stressed that “it is not enough for legal education merely to adapt to technology because adaptation, by its very nature, means responding to change after it has occurred. If law is truly to lead in this space…we must aspire to something more — to foresee change, shape its direction, and ensure that technology develops in service of the law and the values it seeks to uphold”.
The refusals have reportedly cited concerns over the eligibility of the programmes, including whether they were credit-earning and qualified for a PGWP. (Express Photo)For close to a month, Indian students in Canada have been protesting after their Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) applications were refused, leaving them with a difficult choice. These students, who have completed nearly two years of study at Portage College and its former partner campuses in Alberta, Calgary, and Edmonton, have spent around Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh on tuition and living expenses. They said they had not anticipated a refusal of their work permits and had expected to work in Canada after completing their programmes.The refusals have reportedly cited concerns over the eligibility of the programmes, including whether they were credit-earning and qualified for a PGWP. Portage College has said immigration decisions are made by the Canadian federal agency Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It has advised affected graduates to seek independent immigration advice. The Canadian government has made it clear that those individuals whose PGWP applications have been refused and who do not have any other legal status to remain in Canada must leave the country. In such a situation, can these individuals maintain their legal status? Here’s what to know. What happens after the PGWP refusal? After a PGWP refusal, if the students do not have any other legal status to stay in Canada, they cannot continue working and have to leave the country. They may, where eligible, apply for restoration of status within 90 days of losing their status, but the refusal does not automatically give a student 90 days to remain in Canada. According to the IRCC, the 90-day provision relates to the restoration of temporary resident status after status has been lost; it is not a 90-day grace period following a PGWP refusal. Students must first check whether their study permit or another temporary resident status is still valid. A refusal of the PGWP does not, by itself, cancel a separate valid status.Story continues below this ad Does visitor or business status serve the purpose? A visitor record may allow an eligible person to remain temporarily in Canada, but visitor status does not provide permission to work. So, it should not be treated as an alternative to a PGWP. Similarly, a business visitor is permitted to undertake qualifying business activities but is not allowed to enter Canada’s labour market as an ordinary worker. A business visa therefore cannot be used as a substitute for a work permit. These options are also temporary in nature and do not provide students with a long-term route to study and work in Canada. Immigration experts said students should therefore be cautious about opting for short-term visitor or business routes merely to delay their departure, as this could leave them facing another immigration problem when that status expires. Students whose status has expired may examine restoration, while those who believe the PGWP refusal was legally incorrect can urgently explore judicial review. Already, most of the students have filed judicial review after their PGWP applications were rejected.Story continues below this ad Sumit Jain of Jain Overseas Consultancy and IELTS Centre, which is one of the largest immigration services centres in Jalandhar and also has an office in Canada, said students should not rely on social media claims that a PGWP refusal automatically gives them 90 days. Their immediate priority should be to establish their current status and then choose a lawful route. For students unable to remain legally in Canada, leaving the country is safer than overstaying. If they subsequently obtain the necessary PGWP under judicial review, they can return to Canada legally, said Jain. What is the safest option? According to Jain, students who genuinely want to continue their education in Canada legally are currently exploring the option of st
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