Indonesia Open: Jayaram, Gurusaidutt enter second round, Kashyap bows out

India’s Ajay Jayaram shrugged off bouts of inconsistency to outlast Indonesia’s Riyanto Subaga 22-20, 8-21, 21-12 to move into the second round of the Djarum Indonesia Open being played in Jakarta.

Jayaram’s whose best performances this year have been quarterfinal finishes in the Sunrise Indian Open and Skycity New Zealand Open, waged a grim battle against Subagja as the match proceeded on an even pace with scores level at 9-9.

It was at this juncture that the 71st ranked Indonesian seized the initiative logging five consecutive points to march ahead 14-9 and looked good to pocket the opening game.

File photo: Ajay Jayaram

The Indian narrowed the gap to 13-15 before launching a superb fight back, winning six points on the trot to gain a healthy 19-15 lead.

Subagja fought back to make it 18-19 before saving two match points to push the contest into deuce. Jayaram stayed calm to win 22-20.

The Indian suffered a lapse in concentration and conceded five straight points to trail 1-5. The Indonesian looked in control of the proceedings and won six straights points to lead 12-6 before delivering the sucker punch to hasten Jayaram’s end in the second game winning it at 21-8.

The Indian started the decider well winning three consecutive points to lead 7-5.

Rubagja tried hard to stay in the contest, but Jayaram cut down on his unforced errors and widened the gap even as his opponent wilted under sustained pressure.

The world number 28 bagged the decider at 21-12. Jayaram now plays fourth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia.

There was more good news in the Indian camp as RMV Gurusaidutt got the better of Indonesia’s Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 22-20, 21-17 to advance to the second round.

The Indian was offered a stiff resistance by the 53rd ranked Indonesian, but still managed to ward it off gaining an 11-18 lead.

Tedjono fought tooth and nail and forced the contest into deuce, but Gurusaidutt prevailed 22-20.

The country’s second highest ranked men’s singles player assumed control over the second game, logging five straight points to surge ahead before pocketing it at 21-16, in a contest that lasted 50 minutes.

Earlier, the country’s badminton fans suffered a setback when the top-ranked Parupalli Kashyap lost tamely in straight sets to Japan‘s world number 19 Sho Sasaki 7-21, 8-21.

Kashyap never played like a world number ten shuttler and surrendered meekly to the Japanese.

India’s Saina Nehwal was earlier pushed hard by Indonesian world number 14 Fanetri Lindaweni before she prevailed 21-17, 25-27, 21-13 in her first round match.