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Shuttler Jayaram surprises Chou, enters Korea Open final
Seoul: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram threw up a surprise to shock seventh seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and enter his maiden Superseries final at the $600,000 Korea Open here on Saturday.
Jayaram took just 44 minutes to move past World No.7 Chen 21-19, 21-15 at the S.K. Handball Stadium to earn his third victory in five meetings over the Chinese Taipei shuttler.
The Mumbaikar now faces a huge task as he will take on Chinese top seed and reigning doubles World Champion Chen Long in the men’s singles summit clash on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Indian had a good start taking an 11-8 lead at the first game break. But Chou somehow found the legs to win the next seven points and take a 15-11 lead.
Jayaram fought back and did not allow Chou to extend the lead, levelling at 17-17 and bagged four out of the next six points to go ahead in the encounter.
The second game also proved to be a topsy-turvy contest as Jayaram looked good with a 10-16 and then a 12-9 lead. But the seventh seed once again won the next five points to go 14-12 up.
The Indian again checked Chou and from 14-15 down, World No.32 Jayaram smashed his way through by clinching seven straight points to set a date with the World No.1.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.