New Delhi: In a giant killing act, Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram defeated sixth seeded Viktor Axelsen in straight games to enter the men's singles second round of the Korea Open Superseries on Wednesday.
Jayaram, who is currently ranked 30 in the world, won the opening round match 21-15 21-15 in 29 minutes. Today's win will serve as a sweet revenge for the 27-year-old Indian, as he lost to the Dane in the recently concluded Japan Open Series first round match 21-10 21-10 in 28 minutes.
Axelson was the runner-up at the Japan Open Superseries, losing to Chinese superstar Lin Dan in three tight games in the final.
In an impressive show, Jayaram took a surprising 7-0 lead in the opening game, and feasted on a seemingly over-confident opponent to win 21-15.
But in the second game, the unheralded Indian endured some tough rallies to keep the momentum, and eventually won it 21-15.
He, besides PV Sindhu, is the only Indian left in the tournament. His compatriots Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy and K. Srikanth have all tasted defeats in their respective men's singles first round matches.
In the women's doubles also, Indian pair of Pradnya Gadre and Nelakurihi Sikki Reddy already exited the tournament.
Tomorrow, Jayaram will play another unseeded player -- Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong, while in the women's singles second round Sindhu will play Sayaka Takahashi of Japan.
