A fairytale ending eluded him as Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram’s rampaging run was brought to a halt by defending champion and World No. 1 Chen Long of China in the final of the $600,000 Korea Open Super Series event here on Sunday.
After producing a giant-killing run to earn a maiden Super Series final appearance, Jayaram failed to breach the Chinese wall as his fight ended with a 14-21, 13-21 loss to current World champion Long in a 40-minute men’s singles final.
En route to the summit showdown, Jayaram punched above his weight, stunning the likes of World No. 6 Dane Viktor Axelsen, Japan’s Sho Sasaki and Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen to set up a title clash with Long, an opponent he had lost to at the Hong Kong Open last year.
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Jayaram started with a smash but stumbled on a series of errors to lose points. Long was equally erratic in the beginning as the score read 4-4 in the opening game. Long, however, quickly regrouped and thrived on the Indian’s errors.
Jayaram showed occasional sparks of brilliance and left Long completely stranded with a deceptive jump shot at 7-9 and with that clawed back at 9-9.
However, Long produced two powerful smashes to go into the break with a two-point advantage.
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Errors crept into the Indian’s game again, giving Long six game points and the Chinese closed it out with a backhand return.
The script didn’t change in the second game as after picking up a couple of early points, Jayaram failed to find answers to Long’s superior game.
After the break, Long didn’t allow the Indian much scope, jumping ahead even as Jayaram’s game crumbled. — PTI