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[ Robertson ] [ Kellogg ] [ Clark ] [ Cann ] [ Ouseph ]
Raj aiming to rule again
by Richard Eaton
 If
he wasn't a badminton player he would like to be a journalist,
and over the next three days he will be trying to make his own
news again. Happily, that has happened quite a lot in the last
few months for Rajiv Ouseph.
The English national champion became the Scottish International
champion and then the Irish International champion not long
before Christmas. This, coupled with a big win over Przemyslav
Wacha, the former top 20 Pole, in an England international
match, a near miss against Peter Gade, the former All-England
champion from Denmark, and a greater intensity in training, have
made him favourite as well as seed number one to win the men's
singles title in Manchester again.
 “Going
in as reigning champion brings a little bit more pressure but
I'm confident and have prepared well,” Ouseph said. “I am having
one of my most successful seasons. I have had a small break
since Christmas so I am totally refreshed and ready.”
It hasn't always been like that. After becoming the first
English player for 20 years to win the European junior title,
and impressing many people with his deftness and reach from his
imposing six feet two inches, Ouseph's progress wasn't as quick
as he would have liked.
His game lacked assertiveness and early last year he was still
saying: “Shot-wise I am strongest but physically I can improve
and that’s what I am trying to do.”
He responded not only by work harding at the national centre in
Milton Keynes, but demonstrated his commitment by travelling to
Banagalore last summer to train at the famous academy of Prakash
Padukone, the former All-England champion from India.
Now, at the age of 22, Ouseph has improved so noticeably that he
is a danger to any player in Europe. Curiously some of it is
down to the help of the man he beat in last year's final, Aamir
Ghaffar.
 There
were signs then, in the first all-Asian final at an English
nationals, that Ouseph was adding a greater ability at finishing
rallies to his deft and skillful game. Ghaffar's defeat was
followed by his retirement and by his spending more time
coaching his younger Middlesex colleague.
Ouseph identifies another of his training partners, Carl
Baxter, as his biggest threat this time. "I know what he is
capable of,” Ouseph said. “We are pretty even when we play
outside of competition and haven't been drawn together for about
a year and a half in any tournament. If we both make it through
our sides of the draw, I'm sure that it would be a fantastic
game in the final.”
Baxter is Canadian-born, Avon based, and newly qualified for
England. And after reaching the French Open quarter-finals and
the semi-finals in Sweden, he moved up to world number 35, seven
places ahead of Ouseph. He should face the former English
national champion Mark Constable in the quarter-finals, while
Ouseph may have to be wary of a semi-final with another England
colleague, Ben Beckman. But the champion doesn't take
much for granted. He has been in the habit of crossing himself
before playing each match. Don't expect him to stop.
Ends
[ Robertson ] [ Kellogg ] [ Clark ] [ Cann ] [ Ouseph ] |
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