Fullerton (US): Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram will lead the Indian challenge at the US Open in the absence of defending champion HS Prannoy and last year’s finalist Parupalli Kashyap in the World Tour Super 300 badminton tournament, starting here Tuesday.
World No.8 Prannoy has decided to skip the event to be in best shape for the upcoming hectic schedule including the USD 700,000 Malaysia Open, USD 1,250,000 Indonesia Open, World Championship and Asian Games.“I am not playing US Open. I haven’t decided what events I will play,” he said.
Kashyap, on the other hand, is recovering from a stress fracture on his shin that he suffered after the Austria Open in February. “Just after Orleans GP it got aggravated and I had to stop playing. I was back on court a few weeks back. I hope to play in Thailand,” Kashyap said.
Jayaram, who is on a comeback trail since recovering from a hamstring injury that took nearly eight months to heal, will eye a good outing when he begins his campaign against a qualifier.