Ajay Jayaram gears up for European circuit

A fit again Ajay Jayaram today said that he was looking forward to doing well at the European circuit, including the prestigious All England Open badminton championship.
"The next one for me would be the European circle -- the All England (Open Badminton Championship) and the Swiss Open. After the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold, I had a slight problem with my back, but now I am fully fit.
"So hopefully, I get full four weeks to prepare for the All England and that's definitely one of the most exciting tournaments in the circuit that I am looking forward to," Ajay told reporters at the sidelines of the launch of 'Guts&Glory', a magazine by Padukone Shuttler's Academy at North India Association here.

Talking about his preparations, Jayaram said: "Last few months have been pretty good for me. I (will) generally stick to what I have been doing. A couple of things here and there. It's going the same kind of stuff (that) I am doing.
"Literally, you have the top 20 playing there (in All England). Every round will be equally tough. I will have to put my 100 per cent to get past everyone," the Chennai-born player said.
Jayaram, who played for the Mumbai Rockets at the Premier Badminton League (PBL), said he was "reasonably good" during the tournament against some top rank players.

"But it (PBL) was a 11-point format. But I can take a lot of positives out of it. I was quite aggressive in my approach and if I can maintain the same tempo, I could take that (into the next tournaments) as well.
"I am glad now it will be a yearly thing and definitely with the PBL you have reach among all people in India. You have the viewership going, something which you would not have normally in badminton. If this trend continues, it is only going to get better and badminton will become the next big thing," the World No. 18 in men's singles said.

The magazine launch was preceded by a friendly masters' championship match between Mumbai Suburban and Mumbai City in memory of badminton referee, TRN Swamy, who recently passed away.