Barcelona Spain Masters: Jayaram crashes out in semi-final as Indian challenge ends

With Jayaram's defeat, India's campaign in the tournament came to an end as earlier ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, and Sameer Verma were knocked out of the tournament.

Barcelona: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram on Saturday crashed out of the men's singles semifinals of the Barcelona Spain Masters after suffering a straight-game loss to two-time Junior World Champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand here.

Unseeded Jayram, who had defeated compatriot and former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth enroute the semifinal, gave a tough fight in the opening game before surrendering 20-22 12-21 in the last-four clash of the BWF World Tour Super 300 event.

Indian contingent in Barcelona Masters

With Jayaram's defeat, India's campaign in the tournament came to an end as earlier ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, and Sameer Verma were knocked out of the tournament.

While Saina lost 20-22, 19-21 to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in 45 minutes to bow out of the tournament, Sameer went down to Vitidsarn in three games.

The defeats came as a big blow to both Saina and Srikanth who are facing an uphill battle to improve their rankings and secure Olympic qualification.