After Seven Months in Wilderness, Korea Open Final Was Dream Come True For Ajay Jayaram

Ajay Jayaram, coming back from a seven-month injury lay-off, stormed into the final of the Korea Open Super Series last week and the Indian shuttler feels it was a big moment for him after enduring a challenging year. (Jayaram lost to world No. 1 Chen Long in Korea Open final)

Coming into the tournament as an underdog, Jayaram went on to reach the final and eventually lost to world No.1 Chen Long. The Bangalore-based shuttler is glad he could realise his dream of making it to the final of a Super Series event.

"Since my childhood, I have seen so many people whom I look upto like Peter Gade, Lin Dan or Taufik Hidayat getting up there. So, it was a dream to take the court in a Super Series final," Jayaram said.

For six months, Jayaram was on the sidelines, nursing a shoulder injury sustained in January last year. What followed was multiple visits to the doctor, going under the knife and then the rehabilitation process.

When asked about that phase, Jayaram said: "It was not easy going through the injury phase. I mean, first I thought I will be back after four months but the rehab was the most challenging. Because there are so many ups and downs, there are days when you don't feel good, there is some pain and then you doubt your fitness.

"But to come back after seven months and win my first Grand Prix Gold title at the Dutch Open was a huge thing for me. Post that, I reached the semi-final at Malaysia and also the final at Swiss Open. So it was a decent performance and much needed boost for me. And now reaching the Super Series finals is my best performance. Now the challenge is to sustain that in the coming months as I play more super series.

"I think the injury phase made me more hungry to get back on the court and do well. It was a challenging phase but I am glad I could spend time with my parents and I'm happy that I also stuck on and got better," added the Mumbai-born shuttler, who won the biggest title of his career, the Dutch Open, at only his fourth tournament after injury.

Talking about the Korea Open, Jayaram said: "I had lost to Viktor Axelsen in the Japan Open and that was disheartening, but then once I beat him in the first round, it really gave me the confidence. It sort of pumped me up. Also I had lost to Tien Chen twice, so that win also was a confidence booster.

"So with each round, I was becoming more confident. I was defending well, and moving well. In the finals also, I played reasonably well. In fact, if I could have stick with him, may be he could have cracked in the first game.

"He (Chen) is a difficult player. He is so confident about his fitness and is very patient. He gets back all the shuttles and also he is solid at the nets. I was returning his smashes but mistakes cropped up in my game later in the match. So there are a few areas which I need to improve but there are a lot of positives to take from the match."

Currently ranked 32nd, Jayaram is expected to make a big jump in world rankings when the fresh list is released on Thursday but the Indian said he is not concerned about that and wants to focus on consistency.

"I am not concerned about ranking right now. I know I will be within top 25 next week. But I want to concentrate on getting some good wins, reaching quarters and semi-finals regularly and that will take care of the ranking," he said.