Ouseph holds nerve to reach Olympic quarter-final

Hounslow’s Rajiv Ouseph produced one of the best wins of his career to move into the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games in Rio.

Ouseph, who didn’t make it out of the group stage in London 2012, beat world number nine Tommy Sugiarto for the first time, 21-13 14-21 21-16, in a thrilling encounter.

The west Londoner had never even taken a game off Sugiarto in their previous five meetings and is six places below the Indonesian in the world rankings.

Sugiarto started well, opening up an ominous-looking 9-3 lead, but Ouseph recovered by winning 10 points in a row, showing supreme athleticism during some gruelling rallies.

He closed out the first game, only for Sugiarto to respond by levelling and taking it to a decider.

Ouseph found himself 12-8 behind at one stage but clawed it back to 13-13 and then from 15-15 won five points in a row to put himself on the verge of victory.

A smash that went long cost him the first match point but his next overhead was thrashed down the line past Sugiarto, earning him a quarter-final with world number four Victor Axelsen on Wednesday.