China Open: PV Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram reach quarterfinals after thrilling wins

Fuzhou: Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu, and Ajay Jayaram advanced to the quarterfinals after registering thrilling three-game wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the $700,000 China Super Series Premier, at Fuzhou on Thursday. Seventh seeded Sindhu survived a scare from Beiwen Zhang of US before notching up a 18-21 22-20 21-17 victory in a women’s singles match that lasted an hour here. The Indian will next take on China’s He Bingjiao, against whom she had lost in the second round of the French Open last month. [caption id=“attachment_3110584” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of PV Sindhu. AFP[/caption] Jayaram too had to work hard to surpass Wei Nan as he notched up a 20-22 21-19 21-12 win over the Hong Kong shuttler in a 56-minute clash. The three-time Dutch Open champion, Jayaram will face reigning Olympic champion and two-time world champion and All England champion Chen Long of China in the next round. However, it was curtains for Swiss Open winner HS Prannoy after he suffered a 17-21 19-21 loss to Qiao Bin of China in another men’s singles match. B Sai Praneeth had lost his opening round match 16-21 9-21 against Marc Zwiebler of Germany on Wednesday. Sindhu blew away a 11-7 lead at the break to allow Zhang come back and level the scores at 13-13. The American soon moved to a 15-13 and 18-15 lead before reeling off the last three points in to pocket the first game. In the second game, Sindhu once again zoomed to a 8-0 lead but once again she squandered the advantage as Zhang clawed back to first level the scores at 16-16. She soon led 19-17 but the Indian ensured there was no hiccup this time as she roared back into the contest. In the decider, Sindhu held a slender 8-6 lead and then broke off at 9-9 to never look back. It was a tough battle for supremacy as Jayaram’s gallant fight in the opening game ended with a narrow loss after he and Wei moved neck and neck from 11-11 to 20-20. In the second game, Jayaram erased a 2-6 deficit to drew parity at 9-9. He moved ahead at 14-11 and despite a challenge from Wei, managed to bounce back into the contest after five straight points. In the decider, Jayaram managed to keep himself at a distance from Wei after opening up a small 7-3 lead. He kept increasing the lead and eventually sealed the issue comfortably.