Jakarta: Good news came in for the Indian badminton fans on Wednesday, as the shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and RMV Gurusaidutt advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Indonesian Super Series Premier.
The day started on a bitter note as World Number 10 Parupalli Kashyap was shown the exit door by his Japenese counter-part Sho Sasaki. World Number six defeated Kashyap in straight sets by 21-7, 21-8 and the match lasted hardly over half an hour. But the brilliant efforts of World number 28 Jayaram and Gurusaidutt paid off as they managed to win their respective matches.
World Number 71, Riyanto Subagja from Indonesia gave Jayaram a tough fight in the match that lasted about 49 minutes. Jayaram won the opening set by 22-20, but in the next set the Indonesian showed his class by outplaying him by 21-8.
In the decider set, Jayaram made a strong comeback and was going neck-in-neck at 4-4. Hoever, he managed to pull off six points in quick succession which allowed him to stamp his supremacy by cruising through the final set. He managed to bag the set by 21-12.
Gurusaidutt, ranked 25th, got the better off another local player Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 22-20 21-16. The first game saw a good contest between the two. But the final result went in Gurusaidutt's favour as he managed to pull off a close win.
The Indian showed much better grip in the second game and succedded to take up a comprehensive lead and sealed the match.
Jayaram will take on fourth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who had won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championship in Kuala Lumpur. Gurusaidutt will meet the winner of the match between seventh seed Dane Jan O Jorgensen and Japan's Kazumasa Sakai.
In the women's doubles, Indian pair of Aparna Balan and Siki Reddy N suffered a 12-21 17-21 defeat to local combo of Gebby Ristiyani Imawan and Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah to end their campaign.