It appears Ajay was training in Portugal. http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/ajay-jayaram-wins/376524.html Bangalore,Oct4 (PTI) Ajay Jayaram of India, a trainee of the TATA Padukone Badminton Centre here, has won the Yonex Czech International 2010 in Brno. Jayaram beat Scott Evans of Ireland 21-11, 21-8 in the final yesterday, according to Padukone Badminton Centre. He had earlier upset top seed and world number 36 Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland 21-16, 21-9 in the quarter final. Barring the first round against Misha Zilberman of Israel where he was pushed to three games, Jayaram won all his matches with relative ease. The Czech International is an international challenge event carrying a prize money of USD 15,000. This is the second international title for Jayaram this year. He had won the Smiling Fish International Championship in Thailand in September. Currently ranked 60 in the World, he is expected to break into the top 50 with this win. Jayaram has been training in Portugal under Portuguese National Coach Tom John. This exposure was facilitated by the Padukone Badminton Academy when they tied up with the Portuguese National Association and seems to have benefitted Jayaram a lot. Jayaram's training stint in Portugal will continue till November after which he will participate in the Dutch & Danish Open Championships.
Turns out only one side was covered, seems to be an X. Not to clear a pic but seems to be a silver cone ...
Is he sponsored by Yonex? If so, do they still allow their sponsored players to use discontinued models?
Ajay meets Kenichi Tago in the first round of the WC 2011 today. Both are very skilled players, with their own unique brand of play. Obviously Tago has performed much better than Ajay in most tournaments, but this is a new day, a new venue, a fresh new tournament: anything can happen. Tago is currently the bettig favourite, 9-50. But if Ajay brings his unique A-game and Tago is not on top of his game, we could very possibly see an upset. I love watching both these players so it's difficult to take sides! But, all other things being equal, I would love to see Ajay advance into the quarter-finals of a big tournament. Lets see if he can do something really special this time.
Jayaram stuns Tago in a smashing debut Abhijeet Kulkarni, Hindustan Times Mumbai, August 09, 2011 Full story: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Jayaram-stuns-Tago-in-a-smashing-debut/Article1-731031.aspx Excerpts: Mumbai boy Ajay Jayaram raised quite a few eyebrows when he decided to shift base from Prakash Padukone academy in Bangalore to Lucknow to train a few months ago. But that move proved worthwhile as the 23-year-old upset 15th seed Kenichi Tago of Japan in straight sets to advance to the second round of the World badminton championship that began in London on Monday. ..."Yes, I was excited after taking the lead in the second game and made a few errors. But training under Tom John (in Lucknow) has made me more aggressive and confident," said Jayaram, who is playing his first ever world championship. The world No 35 will now face Vladimir Ivanov of Russia in the second round.
Nice Article!!! By: Kabir Mandrekar Posted: Tue Aug 09 2011, 00:36 hrs Mumbai: Full story: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jayaram-starts-with-a-big-win/828992/ Excerpts: ...Those who know Jayaram, however, would not have been breathing too easy. Not the least veteran coach Tom John, who has had the 25-year-old under his wings over the last two weeks and knows that Ajay has a tendency to let his nerves get the better of him in similar situations too often in the recent past. So, though he had cruised to a significant lead till then at London’s Wembley Arena, there were quite a few nervous faces around Jayaram’s corner. With Tago looking all set for a comeback with four straight points, John’s expressions betrayed the high-profile challenge at hand. At 15-12, he was sweating and by the time the score read 19-17, he was mouthing frustration. John’s uninhibited exultation when Tago’s forehand fell just inches off the court to hand Ajay a deserving 21-12, 21-19 victory was more than symptomatic of the enormity of his ward’s achievement.
2011 World Championships: Ajay JAYARAM defeated Kenichi TAGO [15] . Well done Ajay Jayaram. At the 2011 World Championships; Ajay JAYARAM defeated Kenichi TAGO [15] 21-12. 21-19 in 40 minutes. http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/match.aspx?id=E563A742-DF5A-44B0-8253-B53004FAEB4D&match=46 .
Ajay is now through to the round of 16. He is up against Chen Jin of China. IMO, Ajay has a pretty good chance of creating another upset, if he can force the pace and keep CJ off balance with his deception. It will all depend on how fast CJ is able to move tomorrow, and if he can sustain the pace. Ajay needs to just keep a cool head and remain ruthless, especially during the closing points...
Well, Ajay almost did it! But when the match went into the decider, I guess it was CJ's superior physical fitness that made the difference. Ajay just tailed off in the rubber after the interval. Since this match wasn't on camera court, there was no live feed, but I would love to see an upload of this match. Ajay has played very well in this WC edition.
Ajay is participating in the Vietnam GP Open beginning August 23, where he is seeded 5 in the mens singles. He should make it comfortably through to the quarter-finals, where he would probably meet 4th seeded Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia. Ajay is currently at 29 in the BFW rankings, while Alamsyah has dropped down to 32. They have never played each other yet. It should be an interesting match, and current form may dictate the outcome. If Ajay gets past Alamsyah, he will be up against a man who will refuse to lose: Sho Sasaki, seeded 2 in this tournament. This tournament gives Ajay a real chance to make a statement on his terms; lets see if he is ready to grab the opportunity.
I was really impressed when I saw Ajay play at the WC, his smash seemed so fast and effortless. Ajay will also play in the German League next season here in Hamburg for the club VfL 93 Hamburg (http://www.badminton-spielen.de/1-bundesliga-vfl-93-hh/aktuelles.html, in German) Just noticed that the Vietnam GP Open go until the 28th, while the first matches in the German League are on the 27th and 28th. Should I hope for an early exit, so that he can play here?
Lets see how the next round goes! He is up against 4th seeded Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia tomorrow, in the quarter-finals. Actually, given his current run of form, he should be able to win that round as well...
...and 5th seeded Ajay has just managed to get past 4th seeded Alamsyah in a 3-game match, 15-21 21-11 21-15 There are no more details available at this time.
Indian shuttlers' challenge in Vietnam ends Aug 28, 2011, 02.18AM IST Full report: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...lenge-in-Vietnam-ends/articleshow/9763153.cms Excerpts: The Indian shuttlers' challenge at Vietnam Grand Prix came to an end with Ajay Jayaram and Gurusaidutt crashing out in the men's singles semifinals in Ho Chih Minh city on Saturday. ...Jayaram began well against the second seed and World No. 9 Japanese Sho Sasaki by winning the first game with ease at 21-12. The early success had raised hopes of another upset but the gritty Japanese fought his way back strongly to shatter the hopes of the No. 5 seeded Indian. Rallying gallantly, Sasaki pocketed the next two games and the match 12-21, 21-14, 21-16 setting up a title clash on Sunday with top seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam. The last time the 24-year-old Jayaram had met Sasaki, the Indian had lost in straight games 16-21, 19-21 at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2010. This time, Jayaram displayed a better show but his best was not enough against the more skillful Japanese. A disappointed Jayaram, who had reached quarterfinals in the World Badminton Championships in London recently, blamed the lack of full fitness and unforced errors for the loss. "I played very well in the first game but made several unforced errors in the second and third game which cost me dearly. Also I was not fully fit as I was suffering from groin injury and because of that I could not hit the smashes hard. That probably helped my opponent," Jayaram told TOI on Saturday.
