Vietnam Open | Ajay Jayaram, Rituparna Das secure quarter-final spot

Ajay’s compatriot, Mithun Manjunath, also earned a quarter-final berth in the men’s singles event after he was made to work hard in a win against Thailand’s Adulrach Namkul. Manjunath beat the Thai player by a margin of 18-21, 21-13, 21-19 in match that went on for almost an hour. However, it was the end of the road for Kartik Jindal, who was knocked out of the tournament by Canadian player Xiaodong Sheng by a 21-10, 24-22 straight-set loss. Jindal tried to fight back in the second game but fell short of drawing level by just a couple of points.

However, it was good news for India in the women’s singles category as former national champion - Rituparna Das continued her impressive form with a crushing 21-8, 21-14 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun in the third of the Vietnam Open. Das was clearly the dominant player over the course of the match as she won the game within just 26 minutes and secured a spot in the quarter-finals at Ho Chi Minh City.