India’s Ajay Jayaram continued his sensational run at the $600,000 Korea Open on Saturday, making his first World Superseries badminton final and setting himself up against defending champion Chen Long of China for the men’s singles title.
Jayaram, an underdog from the very first round where he upset Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, downed Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-19, 21-15 to advance to the final on Sunday.
Host South Korea assured themselves of the men’s doubles gold medal and advanced to Sunday’s two other finals. Powerhouse China lost both men’s doubles and women’s doubles but stayed in the hunt for three other titles.
Jayaram, World No.30, who had shown skill and tenacity in taking down opponents ranked higher than himself, continued with his careful style, keeping a tight rein on the shuttle, displaying judicious shots that found the lines and depriving the opponent of a brief lead with a net game.
“I think it’s a matter of confidence; it’s a culmination of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years,” said Jayaram, who needed six months off last year due to a shoulder injury. “I executed my strategy well. Recovering from the injury obviously made me tougher. It will be hard against Chen Long… I will think about what to do, maybe have a word with (teammate) Kashyap as well, since he has beaten him twice.”
Earlier, Chen won a comfortable 21-9, 21-13 win over Japan’s Kento Momota.
In men’s doubles matches, home pair Kim Gi-Jung and Kim Sa-Rang upset Zhang Nan/Fu Haifeng of China, 12-21, 21-18, 21-17, to book a final against compatriots Lee Yong-Dae and Yoo Yeon-Seong, who edged Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in a 100-minute thriller, 23-25, 22-20, 21-17.
For the women’s singles title, South Korea’s Sung Ji-Hyun will clash with China’s Wang Yihan on Sunday.
The South Korean female pair of Chang Ye-Na/Lee So-Hee will vie with Indonesia’ Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari for the women’s doubles title.
Sung defeated Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a women’s singles semifinal, 21-15, 15-21, 21-18.
Sung’s opponent will be defending champion Wang Yihan, who beat compatriot Wang Shixian 21-12, 21-19.
The mixed doubles final will feature Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir against familiar foes Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei of China.