Ajay Jayaram on Monday notched up a stunning victory over a higher-ranked Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong in the men’s singles competition to start India’s campaign at the 2013 BWF World badminton championships on a positive note here.
The 25-year-old Indian, ranked 24th beat World No. 12 Wong 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 in 64 minutes. He will next take on Pablo Abian of Spain in the second round.
In women’s doubles, Aparna and N. Sikki Reddy too lost in the opening round, going down to England’s Lauren Smith and Gabrielle White 21-15, 21-17 in 34 minutes.
Meanwhile, badminton superstar Lin Dan moved effortlessly through to the second round. The reigning world champion trounced American Sattawat Pongnairat 21-6, 21-9. The results (involving Indians) first round:
Men: Singles: Ajay Jayaram (Ind) bt 12-Wing Ki Wong (HK) 22-20, 17-21, 21-15. 13-P. Kashyap bt Raul Must (Est) 19-21, 21-14, 21-9.
Women: Doubles: Lauren Smith & Gabreille White (Eng) bt Aparna Balan & N. Sikki Reddy (Ind) 21-15, 21-17; Line Damkjaer Kruse & Marie Roepke bt Pradnya Gadre & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-21, 21-18, 21-17.
Mixed doubles: Hirokatsu Hashimoto & Miyuki Maeda (Jpn) bt Tarun Kona & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-18, 12-21, 21-19; Min Chun Liao & Hsiao & Huan Chen (Tpe) bt Arun Vishnu & Aparna Balan (Ind) 21-16, 21-16.
