Adidas China Masters: India's Ajay Jayaram crashes out in first round

Ajay Jayaram had represented the Hyderabad Hotshots in the IBL (Getty Images)

India’s Ajay Jayaram crashed out in the first round of the Adidas China Masters, losing in straight games to China’s Yuekun Chen 14-21, 21-23 at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium, Changzhou, China on Thursday.

The 24th ranked Indian, who turned out for Hyderabad Hotshots in the inaugural Indian Badminton League, struggled to get going and conceded the early initiative to the 30th ranked Chen, who consolidated on his promising beginning to race away to a sizable lead midway through the first game.

The Chinese was imperious at the net, logging as many as 21 winners at the net, even as Jayaram was not allowed to settle into any kind of rhythm. Chen culled four points on the trot to press home the advantage to seal the opening game at 21-14.

The Indian needed to produce something out of the ordinary in the second game to stay in the contest. And indeed, Jayaram looked a transformed player as he exuded plenty of resilience and matched Chen in all departments of the game.

If Chen was continuing to pound winners at the net, Jayaram was not far behind giving his opponent a dose of his own medicine, pulling off a slew of winners at the net.

It turned out to be a battle of attrition as both players gave nothing away – with one angling for a passage to the second round and the other making a desperate bid to stay in the match.

Jayaram squandered two game points before Chen held his nerves to win the second game at 23-21 in a contest that lasted 36 minutes.

This was the first face-off between the two players.

With Jayaram’s loss, Anand Pawar is now the lone Indian remaining in the fray.

Pawar, ranked 39^th in the world, faces Japan’s world number 21 Sho Sasaki in the second round. The Indian has never beaten the Japanese, losing to him twice in their previous meetings.

The Indian last met Sasaki at the 2012 Yonex Denmark Open, where he lost in three games.

Pawar should count himself lucky to be in the second round after he got a walkover from top-seed Chen Long of China in the first round.