Korea Open | Ajay Jayaram knocked out in quarters
Ajay Jayaram, who was the sole remaining Indian at the Korea Open, has been knocked out after losing to Lee Hyun II 23-25, 13-21 in the quarterfinal on Friday. The 29-year-old lost the first game despite having a game point at 23-22, while the second game turned out to be a one-sided affair.
Jayaram was the only remaining Indian in the draw as the likes of Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap were knocked out in the first round. He dominated his second round clash against Huang Yuxiang and stormed into the quarters, where he faced World No.20 Lee Hyun II of South Korea. The last time these two shuttlers faced each other was at the Canada Open earlier this year, and it turned out to be a walk in the park for the Korean.
However, Jayaram put up a much better fight this time around. The Indian raced to a 14-11 lead in the first game, but Hyun won 7 points in a row to take the lead. The Korean had two game points at 20-17 and then two more at 21-20 and 22-21. However, Jayaram saved all of those and even had a chance to win the game at 23-22. It was not to be though, Hyun won three points in a row in the end to win the marathon first game at 25-23.
The second game was a one-sided affair. Jayaram was drained after his efforts in the first game, as he barely managed to keep in touch with Hyun till 12-10. Jayaram won just three more points after this stage and it turned out to be a comfortable win for the World No.20.