Ouseph ousts 16th seed in thriller at Bitburger Open

Feltham’s Rajiv Ouseph came through a three-game epic to reach the quarter-finals of the Bitburger Open on Thursday.

Ouseph, seeded fifth for the tournament, edged out the 16th seed B. Sai Praneeth of India, 17-21 21-6 21-18.

The match lasted 50 minutes, twice the length of his wins over Ville Lang and Petr Koukal earlier in the week.

The Englishman, who is at 22 in the latest world rankings, dropped the first game against Sai Praneeth, the world number 34.

But Ouseph hit back, winning the second game in style. He led 8-4 and then won 13 of the next 15 points – including nine in a row – to force a decider.

Neither player could establish control in a nip and tuck game which at one stage was level at 14-14. But Ouseph chose that moment edge in front and he closed out the match at the first time of asking.

The west Londoner will meet a Dane in the last eight – either world number 19 and fourth seed Hans-Kristian Vittinghus or former top 10 player Joachim Persson.