Ajay Jayaram upsets Hans Kristian Vittinghus to enter the Swiss Open GP Gold 2011 quarterfinal
India’s Ajay Jayaram delivered an incredible performance in the men’s singles round-of-16 where he brushed away 16th seed Hans Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark in the Swiss Open GP Gold 2011, on Friday, March 18. The un-seeded Indian took 52 minutes to beat the Danish, and in front of the packed indoor arena, booked his place in the quarterfinal of the tournament.
In the quarterfinal battle, the Indian is set to meet fourth seed Sung Hwan Park of Korea who defeated Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinal of the event.
Vittinghus was playing his usual game with impressive tactics and quickly got a five-point lead by reaching 8-3. The Indian matched the speed of the Danish and minimized the difference at 8-11 till the interval of the opening set.
The match became more interesting after the interval, where both players started competing with the same pace. However, Vittinghus managed to maintain the lead and won the first set with a 21-15 difference, in 15 minutes.
The crowd couldn't have asked for a more entertaining second set, as both players started a high-speed contest. Their control over the rallies was incredible as the score grew with equal pace and reached at 10-10. That's where the Indian executed a powerful smash and got a slight lead of 11-10 in the first half of the second game.
After the one-minute rest, both shuttlers again remained toe-to-toe by playing at the same level. Ajay surprised everyone by playing superb strokes and reached 21-21. At this critical stage, Vittinghus lost his control over the rallies and eventually lost the set as well with a narrow margin of 23-21, in 20 minutes.
The win in the second set pushed Ajay to go one step further and he played perfectly in the third and final set. At the 60-second interval, the Indian was leading the game by 11-9.
Getting back into the court after the break, Ajay remained very focused and alert and returned every stroke of the opponent that put Vittinghus under pressure and he started to make mistakes. The un-seeded Indian won the third set in 17 minutes, by a tight margin of 21-19. The end result of this 52-minute battle was 15-21, 23-21 and 21-19.
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