Vietnam Open 2018, Men's Singles, Final: Ajay Jayaram vs Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, Live Match Updates

Rhustavito def Jayaram 21-14, 21-10 in 28 minutes.

Updated: 12 August 2018 12:59 IST - Published: 12 August 2018 11:25 IST

And it's a wrap here!

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Goodbye!

Jayaram could not manage to win the title. But he will surely be proud of the way he has been for the past couple of months.

This was his second BWF final in three tournaments. This will boost his ranking and give him enough confidence as he battles his way back to the top echelons of the sport after a hamstring injury.

Final score: Rhustavito def Jayaram 21-14, 21-10 in 28 minutes.

Rhustavito converts on his second match point to grab the win!!!!

11 match points for Rhustavito!!!!

20-9

Ajay grabs a hard-fought point.

9-18

10 points between the two now.

18-8

And now he is up 16-8

Is it over for Jayaram?

Jayaram could add only a couple of points more. Rhustavito has once again taken the control of the proceedings and is now at 14-7

It's an eight-point gap between the two now.

Rhustavito has raced ahead to 13-5.

It's 11-5 to Rhustavito going into the midgame interval.

Ajay seems to be running out of ideas as well as energy.

Lags behind at 4-9

And the Indonesian has once more nudged ahead to 7-3, in a repeat of the first game action.

Ajay levels!

2-2

Rhustavito opens the second game with a 2-1 lead.

Rhustavito grabs the first game 21-14

Six game points for Rhustavito.

20-14

And Ajay is falling behind now after a sudden burst of energy and aggression from his opponent.

Rhustavito up 18-13

Rhustavito keeps his nose in front at 16-13

And the gap is increasing again as the Indonesian is now up 14-11.

Jayaram continues to trail, but is trying his best to stage s comeback.

10-12

It's 11-9 to Rhustavito at the midgame break.

Jayaram is fighting hard here.

Trails 8-10

The points are short and swift.

The early advantage continues to be with Rhustavito.

9-5

Jayaram closed the gap to two points, but the Indonesian still wrests away the momentum and leads 7-4

And he is looking the more comfortable of the two.

Rhustavito is up 6-2

Some early aggression from Rhustavito.

He jumps to a 4-1 lead.

The Indonesian inches ahead to 2-1

And we are off!

First point to Rhustavito.

The players are currently warming up.

Good afternoon! Can Jayaram win his first title in 3 years? Let's find out.

Hello and Welcome to Sportskeeda's LIVE coverage of the Vietnam Open 2018. Next up is the summit clash: Ajay Jayaram vs Shesar Hiren Rhustavito

Former World Number 13, Ajay will be taking on Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito in the final of the Super 100 tournament.

In case you have not been following the competition, here is Ajay's journey so far:

Round 1: Defeated local hope Le Duc Phat 21-19, 21-12
Round 2: Defeated Indonesia's Gatjra Piliang Fiqihilahi Cupu 21-7, 21-16.
Round 3: Defeated Top seed and World Rank 38 player Ygor Coelho 22-20, 21-14.
Quarterfinals: Defeated Canada's Xiaodong Sheng 26-24, 21-17 in a nail-biting marathon match.
Semifinals: Defeated 7th seed Yu Igarashi 21-14, 21-19.

The former national champion has looked tremendous and not dropped a single set on his way to the final. It could have been an All-Indian final clash had Shesar Hiren not defeated India's Mithun Manjunath 21-17, 19-21, 21-14 in the other semifinal.

Ajay is presently ranked 93rd whereas his Indonesian opponent is 79th. There is not a lot of difference between the two and it promises to be an exciting Final.

A win in this final will do the Indian a lot of good and be a reward for all the efforts he has taken to come back strongly in the game after an injury-marred 2017, where despite reaching his career-best ranking of 17 on June 13 last year, Ajay had to miss out on a lot of tournaments due to a hamstring injury and failed to build upon his ranking.

Ajay is on a path of resurgence since May this year. He reached the semifinals at the US Open and followed it up by reaching the final of White Nights International. If the ace Indian shuttler wins, this will be his first international title since winning the Dutch Open way back in 2015.