Singapore Open: Tien Minh Nguyen overpowers Ajay Jayaram to advance into top-eight stage
Vietnam’s Tien Minh Nguyen advanced into Men’s Singles quarter-final after proving his worth over the lower ranked Ajay Jayaram of India in round-of-16 battle of Li Ning Singapore Open Super Series 2012 in Singapore, on Thursday, June 21.
The aggressive Tien Minh, who is currently World Number 11 and sixth seed in Men’s Singles draw of Singapore Open, was in commanding position throughout the fight against Jayaram and won it easily.
The sixth seeded Tien Minh established his superiority from the opening points of the match and maintained a considerable gap on the score board and eventually ousted his Indian opponent in two sets with a comfortable margin.
On the other hand, the World Number 25 Jayaram failed to play positively in the court as he conceded many negative points and lost to his higher ranked Vietnamese opponent without showing a strong character.
In the first game, it was Tien Minh who did not waste any time in grabbing an early lead on the board. He continued his power play and dominated the pace of rallies until the interval when he was ahead of Jayaram at 11-6.
After the break, the Indian tried his best to break the momentum of his rival by employing variations in his shots but failed to create any difference.
In the meanwhile, Tien Minh maintained his superior position in the court and eventually took the set with a 21-15 margin on the score board.
The spirited Vietnamese continued his roller-coaster performance in the second game and again took an early lead without facing much trouble from his lower ranked Indian opponent.
Until the mid-game break, the Indian shuttler again remained behind on the board at 8-11.
After the one-minute interval, the higher ranked Tien Minh stretched the gap by injecting more power and pace into his shots. His accuracy was incredible which earned him the second game easily with a superb margin of 21-14.
The Vietnamese won this round-of-16 battle against Jayaram in a dominating fashion by a stunning 21-15 and 21-14 score on the board.
In the quarter-final, Tien Minh will take on Malaysia’s Daren Liew who defeated Korea’s Lee Hyun Il in the other pre-quarter-final clash.
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