2012 Hong Kong Open: Ajay Jayaram delivers a stunner against Wang Zhengming in opening round
India’s budding shuttler Ajay Jayaram performed beyond expectations and thrashed Wang Zhengming in the opening round of Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open on November 21, 2012.
This Men’s Singles tussle was staged at the local badminton arena and it prolonged to 35 minutes before ending with 22-20 and 23-21 margin.
World Number 17 Chinese campaigner was hot favourite in this encounter but he failed to live up to his billing and crashed out of this Super Series in a woeful manner.
On the other hand, the lower ranked but talented Ajay served notice of his potential by wrapping this showdown in just two games.
However, it was not an easy win as the Indian player had to put an extra effort throughout this hard fought battle.
In first set of the match, he took a great start and got into commanding position with 6-3 total but his challenger employed an effective counter-attack strategy and levelled the score at 7-7.
At this stage, Ajay showed strong character and bagged few consecutive points to finish first half of the set with a respectable margin of 11-7.
This four-point lead helped him in later part of the game as he did not find any trouble to pile up a mountainous figure of 18-11.
However, couple of mistakes weakened his grip and allowed Wang Zhengming to bounce back into contest with 20-20.
This development subjected both shuttlers to a tough trial and this nerve-racking set ended when Ajay placed a decisive figure of 22-20.
The following game made the crowd gasp as both contenders made every effort to achieve their respective goals.
Wang Zhengming was trying to avoid a straight-set defeat whereas the Indian shuttler was looking to wrap this showdown in just two games.
They matched each other’s skills all the way to game point situation and this crucial set kept swinging between them.
World Number 27 Ajay Jayaram finished first half of the set with a slight edge and then raised hands as victor after putting 23-21 score on the board.
Now he will lock horns with the badminton king Lee Chong Wei in pre quarter-finals of the tournament.
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