Jayaram gears up for India Open
23 April 2012 7:03 PM GMT
He has more or less qualified for the London Olympics but top India shuttler Ajay Jayaram says he doesn't want to count his chickens before they hatch and would go full throttle in the India Open Super Series, starting at the Siri Fort complex here on Tuesday.
Jayaram reached the second round of the Asian Badminton Championship last week in Qingdao, China and is the favourite to join Saina Nehwal in the Indian contingent unless P Kashyap comes up with a stupendous performance at the India Open.
"I played well at the ABC. In the second game against Nan Wei, I used my strokes well but in the third game I slipped.
Now I am looking forward to doing well here," Jayaram said.
Asked about the Olympic qualification, Jayaram said: "I'm not thinking much ahead. The Olympic qualification is not confirmed yet. Kashyap has to reach at least two rounds more than me and I am trying to put all that at the back of my mind and give my 100 per cent and take one match at a time."
Jayaram and Kashyap are separated by three spots in the world rankings and according to the qualification rules for the London Olympics, whoever is higher in the ranking list of May 3 will qualify for the quadrennial event.
The race for the Olympic berth between Jayaram and Kashyap was going neck-and-neck till last week's ABC in which the former reached the second round while the latter was ousted in the first round.
The world number 27 Jayaram feels he has to be more patient on the court and not be too aggressive.
"For past one year, I have worked on my aggression and speed and it is showing results but I have not got time to train because of the hectic schedule. I have to be more patient on court as I tend to do too much to get a point and I guess I have to maintain the pressure rather than getting too aggressive," he said.
Jayaram said if he is qualifies for the Olympics, he would have the time to work on his overall game.
Jayaram reached the second round of the Asian Badminton Championship last week in Qingdao, China and is the favourite to join Saina Nehwal in the Indian contingent unless P Kashyap comes up with a stupendous performance at the India Open.
"I played well at the ABC. In the second game against Nan Wei, I used my strokes well but in the third game I slipped.
Now I am looking forward to doing well here," Jayaram said.
Asked about the Olympic qualification, Jayaram said: "I'm not thinking much ahead. The Olympic qualification is not confirmed yet. Kashyap has to reach at least two rounds more than me and I am trying to put all that at the back of my mind and give my 100 per cent and take one match at a time."
Jayaram and Kashyap are separated by three spots in the world rankings and according to the qualification rules for the London Olympics, whoever is higher in the ranking list of May 3 will qualify for the quadrennial event.
The race for the Olympic berth between Jayaram and Kashyap was going neck-and-neck till last week's ABC in which the former reached the second round while the latter was ousted in the first round.
The world number 27 Jayaram feels he has to be more patient on the court and not be too aggressive.
"For past one year, I have worked on my aggression and speed and it is showing results but I have not got time to train because of the hectic schedule. I have to be more patient on court as I tend to do too much to get a point and I guess I have to maintain the pressure rather than getting too aggressive," he said.
Jayaram said if he is qualifies for the Olympics, he would have the time to work on his overall game.
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