Ajay Jayaram and Mithun Manjunath put in the hard yards to progress to the semifinals with contrasting wins at the $75,000 Vietnam Open Super Tour 100 tournament here on Friday.
Former World No. 13 Jayaram, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from a hamstring injury, produced a spirited performance to outlast Canada’s Sheng Xiaodong 26-24, 21-17 in a thrilling contest.
The 30-year-old Indian, who had reached the final of the 2015 Korea Super Series, will next face seventh-seeded Japanese Yu Igarashi.
Jayaram surged to a 5-0 lead early on but blew the lead as Xiaodong reeled off seven straight points.
The latter enjoyed a 17-14 lead at one stage and also had two game points.
However, Jayaram kept fighting and eventually nosed ahead even as the Canadian shuttler squandered game point opportunities twice.
In the second, Xiaodong was leading 7-3 but Jayaram stormed back to make it 11-8. The Indian continued to pull ahead, managing to stave off a spirited challenge from his rival.
In another match, young shuttler Mithun saw off China’s Zhou Zeqi 17-21, 21-19, 21-11 after a hard-fought battle that lasted 56 minutes.
The 20-year-old, a semifinalist at the Russian Open, will square off against Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.
Rituparna bows out
It was curtains for former National champion Rituparna Das as she lost 19-21, 14-21 to Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan in the quarterfinals.
