Over-committing at the net, where Ayush Shetty is most comfortable, can prove to be the biggest obstacle for the 19-year-old to progress in top-tier badminton. Over a period of time, when the rest of his game fleshes out, the 6 ft-4 inch shuttler, might come to find his net forays useful. But his 21-13, 21-15 loss to left-handed Lin Chun-Yi in the semifinals at the Orleans Masters points to a game that just hasn’t been unlocked to allow for attack from the wide expanse of the back-court.
The Chinese Taipei shuttler, himself 6 feet, has a visible zing to his shot-speed. Besides his quick footwork, the hand speed itself is extremely dexterous and capable of crowding any opponent with the crispness of strokes that don’t stop being bombarded. The World No 14, for whom a long stay in Top 10 looks very imminent and inevitable, has the additional ability to send shots deep and pretty flat. Ayush’s lifts resultantly from the back were tepid, and he barely was offered any elevation to smash and make the most of his height.
When the Indian smashed – plenty of cross hits on the day – they had a finality to them, and he wasn’t spraying them much, keeping it within confines. But Lin’s fizzy game afforded him no space to manoeuvre from the back, nor did Ayush have the defense across his body. He’s only 19, and can toggle game plans mid-set. But the propensity to try and settle everything at the net hugely restricts his ability to open up the court and scatter opponent’s reactions.
It was all the more confounding for within the first 5 minutes, ahead at 4-1, Ayush let rip a backhand smash of such vim from the back, that you thought he might pull off yet another upset at the Super 300. But the Top 15 of the world don’t get there by being deterred by one amazing backhand whiplash smash. Like HS Prannoy did after he won his World Juniors medal, Ayush will need to make that backhand brilliance count beyond its immediate surprise value.
What it showed though was that his armoury could be much wider than the standard full-blooded forehand cross-smash. But soon after he was 7-5 and Lin tied at 7-7, as the net offerings burgeoned.
Some were lollipops, popping up for Lin to put away, a simple flick to the unretrievable backcourt. But when the sharpness goes missing from the net tumbles, opponents can mince away at your game in the absence of a Plan B. So, Lin was 18-9 up in a jiffy, as Ayush was stuck in the forecourt with predictable and tame pushes.
Some late points in the opening set could not shift the momentum that was clearly with Lin. The Taiwanese’ southpaw angles combine with pace – imagine Carolina Marin at 3x – and he’s proven mighty difficult to beat for any contemporary Indian. All of Lakshya Sen, Prannoy, Srikanth Kidambi, Priyanshu Rajawat, Sameer Verma and Sankar Muthusamy have zero wins against him, and to that got added the Ayush Shetty statistic. In a battle of power vs speed, Lin shows that speed can canter away to a win.
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Still, Ayush – had he eschewed the net battle or at the least gotten choosy about them – had the power to pierce Lin’s defense for the very same reason; he’s in a hurry to construct points, and commits early. Also, the Ayush power smash can be formidable. But opponents would do well to not underestimate the Lin smash. While Ayush started Set 2 with a 389 kph scorcher, Lin unleashed one at 8-8 that was 420 kph.
Ayush isn’t lousy at the net, far from it. But it can make him easy to anticipate, and bring on other problems. Owing to his large frame, comparable to Viktor Axelsen’s, he isn’t the lithest at back-tracking or hitting those fadeaways from the back that Srikanth or Prannoy have – the slightly Imbalanced smash dragged from behind the head. Not yet. But all of these – mobility, agility for body defense and the sheer confidence to play from the back – can be easily upgraded into his game.
The newest talent, if he can get stronger, can easily achieve what all of Sen, Rajawat and Kiran George – all of whom are far more rounded strokemakers – crave. Dominance from the backcourt. Variety and that zip needed from the back that Sen works hard on, will come easy to Ayush. If only, he doesn’t insist on lingering at the net, and committing to the forecourt on the third shot he plays. Or earlier. He’s cramping his own style, tiptoeing like Tony Stark told Hulk.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
