Ouseph into quarters at European Championships

Rajiv Ouseph

Feltham’s Rajiv Ouseph booked his place in the quarter-finals of the European Championships with victory over world number 84 Lucas Corvee on Thursday.

Ouseph, the tournament’s fifth seed, ran out a 23-21 21-15 win over the Frenchman in La Roche sur Yon.

A run of six straight points gave the west Londoner a healthy lead in the opening game but it was eroded by Corvee, who pushed the score to 21-21 only to see Ouseph pinch it.

It was the reverse story in the second game, as Corvee went 9-3 and Ouseph hit back to level at 13-13.

ousephRajiv Ouseph’s European Championship progress
2014: Kazan, Russia – Finalist
2012: Karlskrona, Sweden – Quarter-finals
2010: Manchester, England – Semi-finals
2008: Herning, Denmark – Second round
2006: Den Bosch, Netherlands – First round

But from 13-15 down, England’s top-ranked player won eight points in a row to set up a meeting with fourth seed – and world number 15 – Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.

At 42 minutes, the match was twice as long as Ouseph’s opening victory against Dmytro Zavadsky on Wednesday.