Muelheim an der Ruhr (Germany), Feb 25:
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey would look to return to form when they spearhead the country’s challenge at the USD 150,000 German Open, starting with the qualifiers here Tuesday.
Jayaram, a former world no 13, is going through a rough patch ever since he sustained a hamstring injury in 2017.
The Mumbai shuttler, who had reached the finals of Vietnam Open Super 100 last year, will begin his campaign against Japan’s seventh seed Kanta Tsuneyama.
A four-time finalist at the Dutch Open, Jayaram’s best performance has been a final finish at the 2015 Korea Super Series.
The 31-year-old Indian will hope for a better outing in the tournament after bowing out in the second round last week following a straight-game loss to Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen.
Subhankar, who had a breakthrough season last year when he won the SaarLorLux Open, will also compete in the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament and open his campaign against Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen.
Playing his fifth tournament of the season, world no 48 Subhankar will look to go deep into the draw to improve his ranking points.
Among other Indians in fray, women’s doubles pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram, who had finished runners-up at the Senior Nationals, will square up against Malaysian combination of Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean.
Mixed doubles pair of Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan will face Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Yang Ching Tun in the qualification round.
Among Indians, former national champion Arvind Bhat had won the German Open in 2014. PTI
Follow our WhatsApp channel