Fullerton (US): Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram’s dream run came to an end as he suffered a straight-game loss to the Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw in the semifinals of the USD 150,000 US Open BWF World Tour Super 300 badminton tournament here Sunday.
The 30-year-old Indian lost 13-21, 21-23 to sixth seed Mark in the men’s singles semifinals that lasted 36 minutes at the Fullerton Titan Gym.
Jayaram, who had suffered a hamstring injury during the Senior Nationals Championship last year that saw him slip from World No.13 in September to current ranking of 134, was no match for Mark in the opening game. The Dutch shuttler quickly jumped to 11-3 lead at the breather and kept his nose ahead after the break to pocket the first game.
In the second game, Mark once again grabbed a 11-7 lead at the interval but Jayaram fought back to turn the tables at 13-12 and again held a slender 18-16 lead at one stage. However, Mark kept breathing down his neck and eventually sealed the contest to reach the finals.