Sydney, Nov. 20 -- India's Ayush Shetty, ranked 32nd in the men's singles badminton world rankings, stunned Japan's world No. 9 Kodai Naraoka, defeating him 21-17, 21-16 in a thrilling one-hour, eight-minute match at the Australian Open 2025 in Sydney, securing his spot in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

This was the third meeting between the two players in as many months on the BWF World Tour. The Indian badminton player had also defeated Naraoka, a world championships silver medallist, at the Hong Kong Open in September, but lost in the opening round of the Kumamoto Masters in Japan last week, according to Olympics.com.

Ayush Shetty, whose US Open triumph this year remains India's only title of the season, will face fellow Indian Laksh...