Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram fights back to enter US Open quarters

Ajay Jayaram

Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open after defeating Brazil's Ygor Coelho in a thrilling three-game match in the World Tour Super 300 tournament here. Jayaram, who is on a comeback trail following a long injury lay-off, recovered from an opening game loss to see off Brazil's Ygor Coelho 19-21 21-12 21-16 in a 50-minute men's singles clash.

The former World No 13 Indian, who had unfortunately pulled his hamstring at the Senior National Championship last year and had to skip many tournaments, will face Korea's Heo Kwang Hee next. Jayaram started off well as he opened up slender leads of 3-1 and 8-6 before moving to a 15-12 advantage but Coelho jumped ahead to pocket the opening game.

However, Jayaram changed gears in time to dominate the second game as he moved to a 8-4 lead at one point and kept consolidating on the advantage to eventually roar back into the contest. The decider was a tough battle as both the shuttlers fought tooth and nail and advantage changed hands frequently. At 14-14, Jayaram broke off with four straight points and sealed the contest comfortably in the end.

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