Press Trust of India
Seoul, Sept 17: Shuttler Ajay Jayaram emerged as the lone survivor at the Korea Open after he defeated Hong Kong’s Wong Ki Vincent to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s singles even as PV Sindhu bowed out of the Super Series badminton tournament here Thursday.
Dutch Open winner Jayaram prevailed over World No. 30 Vincent 17-21, 21-15, 21-15. The World No. 32 Indian will next take on the winner of the match between Sho Sasaki of Japan and Indonesian qualifier Christie Jonatan. Earlier, it was curtains for Sindhu as she went down 16-21, 13-21 to Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi in women’s singles.
Jayaram held an 8-4 lead in the first game but Vincent turned the tables and broke off after the break at 10-11 to create a huge gap at 19-11 with the help of nine straight points. He then pocketed the game easily to earn the bragging rights.
However, Jayaram, who had beaten Vincent at the 2013 World Championships, showed his mettle in the second game as he fought back from 4-7 down to slowly march ahead and eventually bounce back into the contest with four points on the trot at 17-15.
In the decider, Jayaram held a narrow 11-9 lead at the interval and though Vincent caught up with two points, the Indian kept his nose ahead to eventually shut the door on his opponent.
At a glance
Ajay Jayaram bt Wong Ki Vincent 17-21, 21-15, 21-15
PV Sindhu lost to Sayaka Takahashi 16-21, 13-21