India's Ajay Jayaram, after his incredible victory in the first round against Viktor Axelsen, defeated Wong Wing ki Vincent in the second round of the competition in an interesting encounter. However, it was unfortunate for India in the women's singles with PV Sindhu losing her second round clash against Sayaka Takahashi.
Jayaram, who lost the first set against Wong Wing Ki, came back strongly in the second and third set to reach the quarter finals of the competition. The score read 17-21, 21-15 and 21-15 with the match lasting for 53 minutes.
The Indian shuttler has surpassed expectations in the tournament as he was the least known Indian singles player participating in the Korea Open. Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy lost in the first round of the competition. Jayaram will meet the winner of the other second round clash between Sho Sasaki and Christie Jonatan.
With this, Jayaram is the lone Indian survivor in the Korean Open with PV Sindhu being knocked out of the Korea Open earlier in the day.
PV Sindhu looked below par, as she lost the game in straight sets against the Japanese player. The match finished with the score reading 21-16 and 21-13.
The Japanese, who won the match in 31 minutes, did play some quality badminton, but Sindhu, who has an aggressive game, could have played better. Both the players provided some quality shuttle play in the first set, however, the second set was all about Takahashi.
PV Sindhu is one of the most talented players in the badminton circuit, but has always lacked consistency. She fails to back up her huge wins against top players with consistent follow up victories, as was once again witnessed today.
In the last world championships as well, she defeated Li Xuerui, but lost her next match against South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun. If the Indian shuttler wants to be regarded as one of the best shuttlers, she needs to work on her consistency.
However, Sindhu's loss against Takahashi ends India's run in the women's singles arena as top shuttler Saina Nehwal did not participate in the Korea Open.