New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI): More than a year after recovering from a shoulder injury, Ajay Jayaram earned a final appearance at the Korea Open last week and the Indian shuttler said it was a big moment for him after enduring a challenging seven-month layoff.
Coming into the tournament as an underdog, Jayaram went on to reach the finals and even though he eventually lost to World No.1 Chen Long, the Bangalore-based shuttler is glad he could realise his dream of making it to the finals 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 finals. So it was a big moment for me to reach the finals," Jayaram told PTI.
For six months, Jayaram was left 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.
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 4 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 GPG title at the Dutch Open was a huge thing for me. Post that, I reached the semifinal at Malaysia and also 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."