Calcutta/Guangzhou: Ajay Jayaram notched up a stunning victory over higher-ranked Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong, while Parupalli Kashyap survived a scare in the opening round of the men’s singles competition in the 2013 BWF World Championships in Guangzhou on Monday. Jayaram, world No. 24, provided a scintillating start to India’s campaign when he upset the world No. 12 Wong. The 25-year-old Jayaram, was good in his attack as well as defence and played a patient game to beat Wong 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 in a 64-minute duel. He will next take on Pablo Abian of Spain in the second round. However, world No. 13 Kashyap had an unexpectedly tough encounter against 98th ranked Raul Must of Estonia. Raul troubled the Indian early in the match but ran out of steam as Kashyap managed a 19-21, 21-14, 21-9 win in 56 minutes. Jayaram, who had had reached the pre-quarter finals of the last edition of the championship in 2011, battled fatigue and lapse in concentration to get the better of Wong 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 and will now take on Spain’s Pablo Abian in the second round. Having lost to Wong in their lone earlier meeting in 2011, he was first to get off the block and that helped him race to a handsome lead in the opening game. He had four game points but Wong fought back to level scores before Ajay regrouped and took the next two points and the game. The world number 12 hit back in the second game by engaging Ajay in long rallies and took the match to the decider. However, Ajay was able to handle the pressure well and had the last laugh. “I am very happy with the way I fought hard both mentally and physically. I need to play with the same focus and composure in the next round as well,” said Ajay. However, India's doubles and mixed doubles pairs had a bad day in office as they failed to cross the first hurdle. While the combinations of Aparna Balan and Arun Vishnu lost to Chinese Taipei's Min Chun Liao and Hsiao Huan Chen 16-21, 16-21 in the mixed doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tarun Kona suffered a 18-21, 21-12, 19-21 defeat to Japan's Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Miyuki Maeda in the opening round. In the women's doubles, Aparna and Siki Reddy N too lost in the opening round, going down to England's Lauren Smith and Gabrielle White 15-21, 17-21 in 34 minutes. In another match, Dane pair of Line Damkjaer Kruse and Marie Roepke ended the campaign of Pradnya Gadre and Ashwini Ponnappa with a 21-23, 21-18, 21-17 victory over the Indian pair in the women's doubles event. Meanwhile, Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei eased his way through the first round, taking just 27 minutes to dismiss his opponent. The world No.1 dispatched Scott Evans 21-11, 21-15 at the start of his quest to take the world title for the first time. Source: Telegrapindia
