Russian Open: Dismal day for India as Jayaram, Attri-Reddy and Akshay-Prajakta all lose

It turned out to be a dismal day for India at the Russian Open as all shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram, failed to cross the semifinal hurdle and bowed out of the Grand Prix badminton event. [caption id=“attachment_1754103” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of Ajay Jayaram. AFP[/caption] Third seed Jayaram lost in straight games to top seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, while the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy and the mixed doubles combo of Akshay Dewalkar and Prajakta Sawant also went down in their respective matches. Jayaram suffered a 17-21 17-21 loss to Sugiarto in a 33-minute clash, while the third-seeded pair of Manu and Sumeeth saw their gallant fight go in vain as they lost 21-19 7-21 16-21 to top seeds Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov of Russia in a 43-minute match. Akshay and Prajakta too suffered a 10-21 8-21 loss to Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino. PTI