Jayaram, Gurusaidutt in Dutch Open badminton pre-quarterfinals
Third-seeded Indian Ajay Jayaram stormed into the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton. Ajay eased past German, Fabian Roth 21-14, 21-10 in just 29 minutes in the second round in Almere, late on Wednesday.
RMV Gurusaidutt also moved into the last-16 stage, but fourth seed B Sai Praneeth went down fighting in the second round. Meanwhile, PC Thulasi advanced to women’s singles second round.
World number 25 Jayaram is riding a heady wave after making his first Super Series final in the Korea Open recently, which saw the Mumbai shuttler regain a spot among the world’s top-25 rankings.
Jayaram went on a five-point and eight-point winning streak in the opening and second games respectively to demolish his opponent.
Ninth seed Gurusaidutt beat Chen Chun-Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-19 in 38 minutes, while fourth-seeded Praneeth was beaten 21-15, 7-21, 21-12 by Denmark’s Rasmus Fladberg in 48minutes. Praneeth came back strongly to win the second game, but buckled under pressure in the decider.
Thulasi rallied from a first game loss to defeat Gayle Mahulette of the Netherlands 20-22, 21-15, 21-16 in 57 minutes.
