Defending champion Ajay Jayaram storms into Dutch Open Grandprix final

10/10/2015

Defending champion Ajay Jayaram breezed past unseeded Goh Soon Huat of Malaysia 21-14, 21-15 to reach the final of the Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton in Almere. This is Jayaram's second straight title-round final appearance following his dream run in the Korea Open Super Series last month.

In the men's doubles, India's Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy scraped through to the finals with a 22-20,19-21,21-14 win over Andrew Ellis and Peter Mills of England.

Third-seeded Jayaram, the highest seed remaining in the fray, began the match as the lone Indian singles hope after his compatriots crashed out in earlier rounds.

The 28-year-old had an easy outing in the first set as his opponent committed multiple unforced errors. Jayaram raced to a 6-2 lead even as his opponent started to find his feet. Jayaram, however, peppered Goh with his cross court smashes to reach 17-8. Goh pulled back with a series of long rallies, but Jayaram held on to close out the set at 21-14.

The second set was a closer affair, with Goh racing to a 3-0 lead. Jayaram, however, fought back to level at six-all. The 12th point was pretty much the moment of the match, when Jayaram pushed Goh around the court before topping it off with a subtle drop. Post that, Jayaram never looked back.

The Chennai-born lad meets Estonian Raul Must for the crown at 4 PM IST tomorrow. Must had beaten higher seeded Indian RMV Gurusaidutt in a three-setter to reach the semifinals, where he trumped Emil Holst of Denmark comfortably.

Meanwhile, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy are slated to play unseeded Malaysian opponents, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong.