Indian Shuttler Ajay Jayaram to mark return from injury at China Masters after eight-month layoff

Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram will return to action at the USD 75,000 China Masters BWF Tour Super 100 tournament starting on 10 April, after recovering from a hamstring injury that took nearly eight months to heal. [caption id=“attachment_3029030” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Ajay Jayaram. AFP[/caption] Jayaram, who was World No. 15 in July last year, has been dealing with one injury after another ever this since the World Championship in August last year. He missed events in Korea and Japan and also had to pull out of Denmark and France Open due to a knee injury. He recovered and played at the Senior National Championship but unfortunately pulled his hamstring, which led to his withdrawal from events at China and Hong Kong too. “It has been nearly eight months since I have competed in an international tournament owing to my hamstring injury. I have thoroughly missed being part of the circuit and it has been a pretty difficult time,” said Jayaram, who will open his campaign against China’s Sun Feixiang on 10 April. In a statement that he shared on his twitter handle before leaving for China, Jayaram said, “I leave tonight for the China masters. Not sure what to expect as its my first tournament in a long while. “It will be an acid test of sorts for my hamstring on whether it can withstand the match intensity. But as always, I am hopeful, excited and looking forward to competing again.” Explaining his injury, Jayaram wrote, “The injury was sort of a chronic tendon issue which is why it kept recurring and has been taking so long. Thankfully, for the last couple of months, my leg has responded better to treatment. “I’m grateful to my physio, Anuja for all her efforts and I must admit, it has taken a lot of discipline and patience on my part to keep pushing.”