Ajay Jayaram stuns Sho Sasaki in Men’s Singles first round of the 2011 Hong Kong Open Super Series
India’s emerging shuttler, Ajay Jayaram put up a stunning show of quality badminton when he defeated Japan’s top shuttler Sho Sasaki in the Men’s Singles first round of the 2011 Hong Kong Open Super Series, on Wednesday, November 16, in Hong Kong.
Jayaram, who is currently World Number 34, played to his full potential and defeated the World Number Six Sasaki in an impressive way. The Indian took 50 minutes to make his mark over the Japanese and progressed into the second round of the championship.
This victory over the higher ranked and in-form Sasaki indicates that Jayaram is ready to break into the row of top-10 shuttlers in near future.
In the first set of the match, both players opened the game with a wonderful speed but the Japanese controlled the pace of the game by playing clever badminton at the net. His impressive drives and fast speed left no room for the Indian to score points.
Until the break, the Japanese was moving far ahead.
After the interval, Jayaram became a little slow which helped Sasaki to find a good flow and stretch his lead. Jayaram failed to stop his opponent as he lost his control over the pace of the game and lost the set by a 14-21 score in 15 minutes.
In the following game, Jayaram came back into the court with an aggressive approach as he played an attacking badminton and progressed with a great pace without facing any resistance. Sasaki failed to remain on the right track in this game as he failed to
find any gap in his rival’s court.
The powerful jumping smashes of Jayaram earned him a wonderful position in the match and he eventually won the second set with a 21-18 margin in 20 minutes.
Jayaram was flying in the court in the final set of this Men’s Singles opening game fight. He reached at 11-5 in a flash without wasting any time. His sharp reflexes coupled with amazing anticipation put him on the winning track as his opponent dropped his
speed.
Jayaram finished off the set by a score of 21-14 in just 15 minutes. The end result of this 50-minute match was 14-21, 21-18 and 21-14.
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