Ichinomiya, Sep 24 (IANS) After claiming a bronze medal in the men's team event, young Indian shuttler Ayush Shetty has shifted his focus to the individual event and said he has learnt from his mistakes from his previous matches to go all the way in his individual campaign.

Silver medallists at Hangzhou 2023, the Indian men's badminton team settled for a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2026 after losing 3-1 to the People’s Republic of China in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

After Lakshya Sen lost world champion Shi Yuqi in the opening encounter at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. Satwik and Chirag produced an impressive performance against the world No. 3 Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang to level the tie.

Then Ayush, silver medallist at the 2026 Badminton Asia Championships, lost 21-19, 21-13 to world No. 12 Li Shi Feng as China regained the lead. With India trailing 2-1, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun lost to He Ji Ting and Liu Yi in a must-win fourth rubber, ending India's hopes of reaching a second successive men's team final.

Despite losing the semifinal, Ayush praised the team's performance in securing the bronze. "It's definitely a great performance from the team. Definitely, we wanted to go much further, we wanted to go all the way, but we have to be proud of the bronze medal, and we are really grateful," Ayush told IANS.

He added, "We'll be preparing really well, learnt from our mistakes in the previous match, and the goal is to go all the way; that has always been our goal, so we'll give our best in the individuals."

Ayush, who is competing in his maiden Asian Games, is the youngest member of the squad. Sharing about the team support and the bonding, he said, "They're always supportive; we have some fun off the court sometimes. Me being the youngest, and also it's my debut Asian Games, it's all fun off the court."

Already setting his eyes on the individual medal on his debut, the 21-year-old shuttler said he is more confident for his individual campaign. "There's always pressure, but I think I'm really motivated, and I think I'm feeling much more confident. I played two good matches, and I feel like I can play much better in the individuals, and we'll be preparing really well," he concluded.

Individual competitions at the Asian Games 2026 will begin on Friday, with the men's and women's singles and doubles events running from September 25 to 29.

--IANS

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