Gritty Ouseph edges out Wei in Indonesia

Rajiv Ouseph survived another tight tussle at the Indonesian Open as he edged out Wei Nan 11-21 26-24 21-15 in Thursday’s second round.

Feltham’s world number 15 had taken almost an hour to dispatch Commonwealth silver-medallist Derek Wong Zi Liang in his opening match in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Beating Wei, ranked only two places below Ouseph, was also always likely to be a difficult proposition – as proved by the opening game, which the Hong Kong player won convincingly.

The momentum swung throughout the second game, the lead changing seven times. Ouseph opened up a 7-1 advantage, immediately eroded to 7-8, and squandered three separate game points as it went the distance.

Fortunately, Wei also missed out on two match points before Ouseph, at 24-24, motored ahead to send the match into a decider.

That was more one-sided, with the English number one ahead throughout and he won three straight points to wrap up victory.

He will meet either world number 29 Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia or Chinese qualifier Huang Yuxiang in Friday’s quarter-final.