Jayaram starts with a big win

Ajay Jayaram looked heading towards a comfortable victory in his World Championships.

UP one game and leading 11-2 in the second,Ajay Jayaram looked heading towards a rather comfortable victory in his World Championships opening match against World No. 18 Kenichi Tago on Monday.

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 Londons Wembley Arena,there were quite a few nervous faces around Jayarams corner. With Tago looking all set for a comeback with four straight points,Johns expressions betrayed the high-profile challenge at hand.

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At 15-12,he was sweating and by the time the score read 19-17,he was mouthing frustration. Johns uninhibited exultation when Tagos 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 wards achievement.

The result sheets of big tournaments have more often than not read an early exit for the World no 35. The Indonesian Open saw him losing out to World number 3 Peter Gade in the third round,he lost to former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim in three sets at the Singapore Open and suffered a similar defeat at the Thailand Open to World number 5 Chen Long.

According to Vimal Kumar his coach at the Tata Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore this win,therefore,could be the beginning of a major transformation. He has always had a tough draw in bigger tournaments and has been playing close matches against top ranked players. Todays victory will break that mental barrier, said Kumar.

Against Tago,Jayaram seemed in control from the start and his smashes seemed too much for the Japanese. He converted 24 smashes as opposed to Tagos 11,which proved to be the difference. Ajay is always at his best when he is positive. It is only in the last part of the game that he lost his nerve a bit,but the important thing is that he came through in the end, said Kumar.

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In other matches,Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Eva Lee and Paula Lyn Obanana of USA 21-9,21-18 in womens doubles while Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas beat Michael Fuchs/Oliver Roth 9-21,21-18,21-17 in mens doubles. However,Pranav Chopra/Tarun Kona went down fighting to Hung Ling Chen /Yu lang Lin of Chinese Taipei 21-17,21-13.