Summary:
The badminton player’s early exit at London 2012 left him with regrets.
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OLYMPIAN Rajiv Ouseph admits his early exit at London 2012 left him with regrets – but he is using the experience to drive him towards Rio in four years’ time.
Ouseph is in Manchester next month bidding for his sixth straight English National Badminton Championships singles title at the National Cycling Centre.
The Londoner suffered a shock defeat to Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon in the group stage of last summer’s home Olympic Games, with the result proving costly to his hopes of qualifying for the later stages.
And it appeared Ouseph suffered a post-Games hangover as he tumbled out of the world’s top 30 with five first-round defeats in the six tournaments that followed.
Now the 26-year-old hopes the English Nationals, which begin on February 1, can be the spark that revives his form.
“For how Britain did it was really exciting to be a part of that and just being involved in my first Olympic Games and being from London as well was a really good experience,” he said.
“I would have liked to have done better in the Games so there is definitely stuff for me to work on.
“I’ve gone over it in my head a lot, there was a lot of missed opportunities.
“I have gone through one Olympic cycle now so hopefully I can use that to my advantage in the next four years and try and learn from it and hope it doesn’t happen again.
“Being part of London has given me the taste to try and get to Rio and do as well as I can there. I feel like I haven’t peaked yet as a badminton player yet so I think Rio is a good opportunity for me to do that.”
To experience England’s best players battle it out live for the title of National Champion, visit www.nationalbadmintonchamps.co.uk or call the box office on 0844 5811 424.
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Picture courtesy of Sum_of_Marc, with thanks.
