Second seed Ajay Jayaram of India has been eliminated from the Badminton World Federation New Zealand Open ©Getty Images

Second seed Ajay Jayaram of India has been eliminated from the Badminton World Federation New Zealand Open after falling to a shock defeat against unseeded Chia Hung Lu of Chinese Taipei in Auckland today.

The 29-year-old lost 21-19, 21-13 in the opening round of the men’s singles competition at the North Shore Events Centre.

Lu’s reward is a meeting with home favourite Tony Fang, who today beat compatriot Jack Boyle 21-19, 22-20 in qualification before defeating Indonesia’s Komandani Maytri Sugiarto 17-21, 21-12, 21-18. 

Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Wei Wang, the top seed, is safely through to the second round thanks to a comfortable 21-5, 21-12 win over New Zealand’s Manula Peiris.

Awaiting him in the second round is India’s Pratul Joshi, a 21-10, 21-13 victor over Daxxon Vong of New Zealand. 

Top seed Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei is safely through to the second round of the men's singles draw ©Getty Images
Top seed Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei is safely through to the second round of the men's singles draw ©Getty Images

The first round of the women’s singles competition is due to take place tomorrow.

Four players qualified for the first round today, including New Zealand’s Christine Zhang and Xie Yongshi.

Australia’s Yingzi Jiang and England’s Emily Beach are also through to the main draw.