Gurusaidutt enters 3rd round; Jayaram, Sarada lose

Sydney: Shuttler R M V Gurusaidutt was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing day for the Indians at the Australian Open Grand Prix Gold on Wednesday.

11th seed Gurusaidutt, sealed his place in the third round of the men`s singles event after notching up a hard-fought 21-14 18-21 21-19 win over Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand in a match that lasted an hour and five minutes. Ninth seeded Ajay Jayaram, however, failed to cross the second-round hurdle in the men`s singles event, going down to unseeded Dong Keun Lee of South Korea, 24-26 19-21 in 47 minutes. India`s campaign also ended in the women`s singles category with upcoming shuttler Sarada Jasti losing to Yui Hashimoto of Japan 5-21 13-21 in the first round. Gurusaidutt, after clinching the first game comfortably, had to fight for every point in the next game before losing it. In the deciding game though, he proved his mettle as he came back from a 4-11 deficit, to seal the game and match in his favour. The Indian will next take on the winner of the match between World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Indonesia`s Prasojo Adi Andrianus. In the match between Jayaram and Keun Lee, the first game was a neck-and-neck affair till 24 points before the Korean took off and bagged the next two points to take the lead. In the second game, Jayaram, at one stage had a 18-14 lead, but the Indian lost the plot to eventually go down 19-21. Meanwhile, unseeded Sarada was no match for her Japanese opponent, losing the duel in just 26 minutes. The Indian could win a total of just 18 points as compared to 42 by Hashimoto. Anand Pawar, seeded 14th, moved into the third round of the men's singles event after Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia conceded the match. The Indian won the first game 21-18. But even before the second game started his opponent retired. Anand will now face fourth seeded Wei Feng Chong of Malaysia. PTI