Shuttlers Jayaram, Gurusaidutt advance in Australian Open

Sydney, April 2 (IANS) Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Anand Pawar Tuesday made their way through to the second round of the men’s singles at the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold being held here at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

However, it was the end of the road for two veterans, also former Indian national champions, Chetan Anand and Arvind Bhat. Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia got rid of Bhat with ease (21-10, 21-18) in 31 minutes while Indonesia’s Riyanto Subagja beat Chetan Anand 21-14, 21-16 in 25 minutes.

Mumbai boy Jayaram, seeded ninth, took less than an hour to beat unseeded Malaysian Kwong Beng Chan 21-11, 21-14 in their first ever encounter while city-mate and 14th seed Pawar had to undergo a marathon battle against Arif Ramadhan of Indonesia to win in the decider. Pawar won 19-21, 21-11, 21-13 in 59 minutes – also their first ever match.

Jayaram and Pawar will next face South Korea’s Dong Keun Lee and Malaysian Zulfadli Zulkiffli, respectively, in the next round.

Rising shuttler R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, seeded 11th, hardly took quarter of an hour to get past local boy Hu-Wen Chew 21-4, 21-7 also in their first ever meet. Gurusaidutt will next meet Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand in Round 2.

In women’s singles action, Japanese Yui Hashimoto will take on India’s Sarada Jasti in their first ever meeting.

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