Indian badminton player Ajay Jayaram secured his inaugural grand prix victory after he won the Dutch Open final against Maulona Mustofa on Sunday.
The 27 year-old shuttler took 46 minutes to dispatch the Indonesian 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9, in a five set thriller, clinching the title as well as $50,000 in total.
Despite narrowly losing the initial set, Ajay bounced back to win the next two sets, though he did suffer a major flip in the fourth one, where Maulona triumphed 11-1.
But the Bangalore-based player proved his credentials in the final set, taking it 11-9, to secure what was a hugely emotional victory for him and India as a whole.
“Jayaram has had injuries in recent times. Despite that, he has won a Grand Prix title. It’s his career-best performance and I congratulate him,” his coach Vimal Kumar said.
“This is good for Indian badminton as the country has now got some players who can win tournament of Grand Prix level and above. I had always thought that Jayaram has got the capability to win this kind of tournaments,” he added.
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