Finnish Open 2012: Rajiv Ouseph powers his way to quarter-finals – Badminton News
The second day of Finnish Open was a day of double joy for the prime singles shuttler of England, Rajiv Ouseph as he powered his way to the quarter-finals of the event on March 30, 2012.
Rajiv, who is top seeded in the tournament, first overwhelmed the Malaysian opponent Soon Huat Goh in his opening match and then he managed to cast out the Finnish shuttler Eetu Heino in second round of the event.
In his first match the World Number 22 had a troubled run against Soon Huat as he had to go all the way through three games which lasted for 45 minutes.
The relatively inexperienced shuttler Soon Huat earned a great deal of respect despite of kneeling down after reading final margin of 21-17, 18-21 and 4-21.
The Malaysian stunned his higher ranked rival in opening set by showing his talent through well crafted shots. He matched his opponent Rajiv in all aspects of game and bagged the first match point by registering favourable margin 21-17 on the board.
However, the top British shuttler Rajiv Ouseph woke up in time and established his supremacy in the very next game.
Rajiv pushed his competitor on the back-foot with a strong comeback and kept the rallies under his control. He levelled the lead with scoreboard flashing decisive score of 21-18 in his favour.
The decider completely belonged to Rajiv as he buried his challenger with a significant margin of 21-4 and sealed his 2-1 victory in opening match of the event.
In second match on the same day, the top British shuttler touched new heights in terms of physical and mental fitness as he defeated the Finnish shuttler Eetu Heino in just two games.
There were no signs of fatigue from him in 33-minute tussle and he registered a swift margin of 21-16 and 21-17.
Rajiv’s thundering performance in the first set silenced the crowd who was there to support the home player. He stole the limelight by pushing Eetu Heino into the dark with a decisive five point lead in the final score.
The Finnish got pale in the following game and surrendered after scorers placed the concluding margin of 21-17 in the 33rd minute of the match.
This straight-set victory concluded a splendid day and Rajiv now will start his marathon against Belgian player Yuhan Tan in the quarter-final of Finnish open 2012.
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