Best year of my career: Ajay Jayaram

Bengaluru: Critics may have said India’s top men’s singles badminton player has reached the fag end of his career, but Ajay Jayaram has proved otherwise.

He achieved his career-best ranking of world no.13 this month after defeating the likes of no.2 Victor Axelsen and no.7 Tian Houwei and notching up a few top finishes over the past year.

Representing IOCL in the ongoing 38th PSPB inter-unit badminton tournament at the Karnataka Badminton Association, Jayaram opened up about his past year.

“I think considering the entire past one year, this has been the best year of my career. I’ve been much more consistent than I have been in the past and it’s showing in my ranking. In that sense I am quite happy. Couple of times I could have probably done better and gone to the semis and finals,” said Jayaram.

Jayaram, who finished runner-up in the Dutch Open in October last year, rued the lack of training as the shuttler ended up being overburdened with too many tournaments.  

“Right after the Dutch Open, I was overburdened with matches. I ended up playing too many tournaments and not too much training.

“Looking back I think I should have probably trained more and taken some time off. Also, to increase my ranking, I have to reach more semis of Super Series tournaments. And to do that I have to work on my weaknesses and develop every aspect of my game so I can take on every opponent,” said the 29-year-old, who has shifted base from Bengaluru to Mumbai.

With men’s badminton on the rise in the country, Jayaram believes it will help not just his game but also the overall growth. “I think at this stage I just personally want to get better than where I was. Moreover, it really helps if you have so many people who’ve been playing so well,” remarked Jayaram, whose next aim is a podium finish at the World Championships to be held in August.