Australian Open GP Gold 2012: Ajay Jayaram rises while Parupalli Kashyap slips in second round
It was a mixed day for India in the Men’s Singles event of Australian Open GP Gold as their prime shuttler Ajay Jayaram shines while the experienced Parupalli Kashyap missed out in the second round on April 4, 2012.
The top Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram took the country in third round by overpowering Yogendran Khrishnan but the Indian badminton ace P. Kashyap could not live up to the expectations against Kwong Beng Chan and crashed out of the event.
World Number 27 Ajay Jayaram earned his right to be in the pre quarter-finals by sealing a straight-set victory with an impressive score of 21-16 and 21-9.
The unseeded Malaysian shuttler was completely armless and harmless and Ajay did not face any trouble in the 32-minute tussle.
Indian set the ball rolling in first set and established a swift 1-0 lead in match score position. He displayed his prime badminton craft and pushed his rival in all areas of the court.
The losing contender Yogendran put a decent fight in the first half of the set but he could not match his rival’s pace in the later part of the game and lost the first set with the scoreboard flashing 16-21 score in the end.
Ajay, who is placed at 11th spot in the event, continued with his powerful attack and thrashed his opponent with even more convincing margin in the second set.
This time he did not give the Malaysian even a single chance to rise and stamped him with 21-9 margin in his favour.
On the other hand, the seasoned P. Kashyap could not stand to his full stature against the unseeded shuttler Kwong Beng Chan of Malaysia and bowed down after reading concluding scores of 21-17, 17-21 and 21-9 at end of the 65-minute tussle.
The Malaysian dominated the most part of the game and pushed his relatively high ranked rival into the dark.
Singles expert Kwong Beng set the foundation by snatching the first match point with decisive 21-17 score on the board.
Indian shuttler P. Kashyap pulled back the match to the right balance by levelling the lead but it was not enough to stop the Malaysian from proceeding into the next round with a splendid 2-1 victory.
Now India will bank on just Ajay Jayaram who is up against the World Number 18 Korean shuttler Shon Wan Ho in third round of the event.
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