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.
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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.
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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.