Categories: Badminton

Defeat ends Ouseph’s Olympic dream

Hounslow’s Rajiv Ouseph went out of the Olympic badminton mens’ singles after losing to Kevin Cordon of in his second group match.

He was beaten 21-12, 17-21, 19-21 – much to the disappointment of a partisan crowd at Wembley Arena.

With both men having beaten Sweden’s Henri Hurkskainen in their opening group match, they knew a victory would take them through to the knockout stage.

And the 25-year-old British number one made a great start, winning the first game at a canter.

Cordon, named after England football legend Kevin Keegan, responded in determined fashion to win the second game.

He carried that momentum into the deciding game and was 6-2 in front before Ouseph won six points in a row to lead 8-6 and then 11-9 at the mid-game interval.

But after Ouseph inexplicably hit the net when 14-11 up and in the ascendancy, the tension in the arena rose and increased further when the score was tied at 16-16.

Cordon sensed his chance and held his nerve at 19-19 to send the Londoner crashing out.

See also: Ouseph wins tense Olympic opener

 

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This post was last modified on 31/07/2012

Matt Barrett
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Matt Barrett