German Open Grand Prix Gold 2012: Simon Santoso ousts Ajay Jayaram in Men’s Singles first round
Indonesia’s top shuttler Simon Santoso advanced into Men’s Singles second round after beating India’s Ajay Jayaram in the first round of German Open Grand Prix Gold 2012 in Germany, on Tuesday, February 28.
Santoso, who is World Number 11 and the fifth seed in Men’s Singles category of the event, showed his class and overpowered the spirited Jayaram who is currently number 24 in the world placements.
The Indonesian was quite calm as he did not play any hasty shots and remained in complete control. He played with precision and did not lose his focus in the entire march and bagged it in straight games.
Santoso started the first set in a controlled manner as he took a wonderful lead in the early points. The Indian had no answer to the planned and aggressive play of Santoso.
The higher ranked Indonesian displayed his wonderful skills in the first half and took a comfortable lead until the break.
After the interval, he continued his dominating run in the match by playing to his maximum speed and did not spare any room for Jayaram to earn points.
On the other hand, Jayaram remained struggling in executing his strokes in the right areas as he could not control the pace of rallies.
Santoso was focused in the first game as he did not let his rival to reduce the gap and won the set with a sensational 21-9 score on the board.
In the second game, Jayaram showed glimpses of his brilliance as he matched the speed of his higher ranked Indonesian rival and remained close to him until the end of first half.
Santoso could not manage a comfortable lead in the first part of second game as his Indian challenger was quicker this time.
After the interval, both men entertained the local fans with their elite skills as they played top class badminton with perfection and precision. They reached at the concluding phase of second game without taking a reasonable lead.
However, Santoso utilised his extensive experience at this stage and played parallel game which helped him to earn the ending points and he won the set with a tight margin of 21-19.
Santoso emerged as victorious in this first-round contest that ended in 36 minutes with a 21-9 and 21-19 score on the board.
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