Badminton News -Rajiv Ouseph takes US Open title in California
Last updated 27/07/2010 23:32:05
Badminton News - Rajiv Ouseph takes US Open title in California
England's Rajiv Ouseph celebrated the biggest moment of his sporting life when he annexed the US Open title in California. The three-time British champion overcame ninth seed American Brice Leverdez 21-17 21-9 in 30 minutes.
"I am happy to have won a lot of hard games and am ready for new challenges," said the 23-year-old from Hounslow , who next month competes in the World Championships.
Ouseph beat Korean seventh seed Shon Wan Ho and Singapore's Ziliang Derek Wong on the way to the final.
"This was an important win for me, especially after the poor display in Canada last week when I lost in the second round," said Ouseph, winner of the European bronze in Manchester in April.
"I was feeling some pressure during this tournament but, after the first difficult round (he won 21-19 in the third game against Lee Hock Lai of Malaysia) I felt more relaxed and confident."
Ouseph's timely success comes only a fortnight after the arrival of Kenneth Jonassen as England's men's singles coach.
"I am not really concerned about ranking points. Only the win is important to me as a coach. I am mostly concerned with how Raj handled the pressure and the level of his game," the Dane said.
"He played a good mix of skill and physical play and made Brice look for winners. That produced easy mistakes as a result of the pressure Raj put him under."