Kashyap loses; Ajay, Guru reach pre-quarters in Indonesia

Jakarta: Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and RMV Gurusaidutt reached the pre-quarter-finals of the Indonesian Super Series Premier but it turned out to be a bad day in office for world number 10 Parupalli Kashyap as he crashed out of the men's singles competition, here Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Kashyap was not in his elements and was completely outclassed by former world number six Sho Sasaki of Japan 7-21, 8-21 in his campaign opener, which lasted just over half an hour. However, World number 28 Jayaram and Gurusaidutt notched up contrasting victories later in the day to keep India afloat in the men's singles event.

While Jayaram struggled past world number 71 Riyanto Subagja of Indonesia 22-20 8-21 21-12 in a 49-minute hard-fought battle, Gurusaidutt, ranked 25th, got the better off another local player Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 22-20 21-16. 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. Jayaram found the going tough against Riyanto right from the start and was lagging 9-14 but the Indian slowly clawed back with five straight points and then reeled off four points on the trot to move to 19-15.

Riyanto caught up at 20-20 but the Indian managed to pocket the first game by capturing the next two points. In the second game, Riyanto showed his mettle and opened up a 5-1 lead and then held his fort to bounce back into the game rather comfortably. However, in the decider, Jayaram got his act together and distanced himself from 4-4. The Indian started dominating the proceedings and knocked off six points on the trot to further consolidate his position and eventually seal the issue.

In the other men's singles match, Gurusaidutt rode on his powerful smashes to tame Andre. Although, the first game was a rollercoaster ride for both the players as leads exchanged hands quite often, the Indian had his nose ahead after a hard-fought battle. In the second game, Gurusaidutt was more in control and after an early fight, he managed to create a gulf and hanged on to the lead to emerge victories in the end.