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India suffered their first casualty at the 2015 Japan Open Superseries as Ajay Jayaram was knocked out in the opening round of the competition by Viktor Axelson of Denmark, 21-10 21-10 in 28 minutes on Wednesday.
The opening game saw both win 2 of their first 4 points each, but the Dane started to take control of proceedings at 4-4 mark, winning 4 out of the next 6 points to go 8-6 up and then clinching the next 8 points straight to go 16-8 up and putting enormous pressure on the Indian. He would eventually seal the game 21-10.
Axelson continued to dominate proceedings in the second game even as Jayaram tried to force his way back into the match, but at the 7-7 mark, the Dane once again put pressure on the Indian, winning points at a stretch to go 13-9 up. From this point though it was Axelson all the way as he won 7 points at the stretch to go 20-9 up before finishing the formalities to book a spot in the second round.
Jayaram hasn’t had the greatest of 2015s and this loss will further dent his chances of making it to Rio next year. India, though still has 4 other contenders in the Men’s Singles category and they would be hoping to put up a much better show and move deeper into the competition.
Final Scoreline – Viktor Axelson beat Ajay Jayaram 21-10 21-10
Kashyap progresses into second round
India’s Parupalli Kashyap moved into the second round after his opponent Takuma Ueda had to retire hurt after just 5 points into the opening game, which the Indian was leading 3-2.
