When he was in Class 4 at OLPS School in Mumbai's leafy central suburb of Chembur, Ajay Jayaram became famous in his predominantly south Indian neighbourhood for winning the much-revered "4th standard scholarship." But, when Ajay was in Class 4 and learning to hit shuttles at Chembur Gymkhana, father Jayaram Gopal noticed the deception of the net flicks and drops in his son's early armour. Gleeful about what he saw on the court, but facing stiff opposition from his own parents and even wife Uma initially while encouraging his son to take up badminton instead of studies, the conflicted father was at his wit's ends to decide the future of his son. Ajay would add another academic feather to his cap by earning the "tougher 7th standard scholarship" and do well in his boards, pursuing science in Junior college. (Ruia College would allow him to turn up only for the Chemistry, Physics practicals since he was winning tournaments.) [related-post] Jayaram, an electronics engineer would quit his service and start a consultancy to help his son put together a badminton career. "Today, it all seems worth it," Jayaram Gopal says, on the eve of his son's 28th birthday, a day when the lanky lad's taken out World No. 7 Chou Tien Chen to enter his maiden Super Series final at the Korean Open. Ajay became only the second Indian after K Srikanth (a year ago) — to make the Super Series Final, where he meets World No. 1 and world champ Chen Long of China on Sunday. The Chembur-bred lad, now a Bangalorean after he shifted to the Padukone Academy soon after his teens, is Indian shuttle's nearly-man after he narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification from a Chinese walkover in Delhi three years ago. Not the strongest of shuttlers in India physically — that would be Kashyap, neither the most gifted — Srikanth, Ajay has spent extensive periods battling injuries — right from the abdomen, the ankle to the shoulder which underwent surgery last year after three months of playing with Cortisone injections ended in an unbearably acute pain spasm. Injuries would make Ajay's game look brittle, his mind even weaker and circumspect as he tried to negotiate the international circuit with little more than a prodigious net game and an acquired whippy smash. On Saturday, playing the well-built Taipese Chou, with his big game and trunk legs, Ajay would maximise his game at the net, and add a strong base of defence to that mix to win 21-19, 21-15 in 43 minutes. Retrieving defence Consistent through the last few tournaments and especially error-free in this last week where his defence has stood out, Ajay would take an 11-8 lead in the opener, then give his opponent a yawning opening to stomp back and then put up the sturdiest of retrieving defences to close out the first set. Twice his cross defensive backhand shots ended as delectable winners. At other times, he would pick the shuttle high and early at the net and dribble in a stare-off at the net with Chou. The Indian's always had the smashes to summon when needed, but he's often been over-indulgent with trickery at the net, costing him matches in the past. In his second-ever semifinal of a Super Series, Ajay would tame the urge to dazzle, and on a second straight day, play deft and smart while pouncing on Chou's anxiety. "I didn't get hasty with my attack and rallied more patiently," he said later. The net wizardry that had helped his father choose his future, needed some disciplining, and his coach Tom John had helped him work on the judicious mix ever since Ajay trained briefly in Belgium. "We've been working on his flat game and taking the shuttle early to dribble it. His deception's great but it needed to fetch him points rather than give opponents opening to kill," Tom says. The second set would see Ajay lord over the net, even as national coach P Gopichand sitting for his match would repeat his week-long chant of varying the pace — mostly slowing it down — at crucial moments. Moving well and cutting errors — coach Tom often tells him ‘you get what you put in' — Ajay was finally reaping dividends of that hard work that had more to do with restraining his instincts to do too much than adding a lot of strokes to his repertoire. Tight net shots, just when needed, just enough. "It'd have been tough for me to get this far without Tom Sir. Sometimes, he believed in me, when even I didn't. He doesn't allow me to dwell on days when I'm not feeling great. He gets you motivated and up on feet, training," Ajay said. Lot to think upon There has been much to mull on — the missed Olympics opportunity, six months of a delicate shoulder healing and daily doubts of whether he'd be able to smash the shuttle ever again. "This result is long overdue. He's a quiet, unassuming player who was besieged by doubts of whether he was as good as a Kashyap or Srikanth. He had to be told to work hard to be in Top 20 which I think he deserves," Tom says. The Dutch Open title came and went earlier this year, but the big Super Series results eluded the bloke. Not that he shirked the rigour and regimen, but Ajay always liked his gentle, unhurried pace of training — where he'd be allowed to just be. Hyderabad was always going to be too rushed for the liking of a boy from Chembur's Diamond Garden, quietly tucked away from Mumbai's rush hour and surrounded by the academically inclined. Yet, there's no doubt that the neighbourhood from the traditional marriage hall Ahobali Muttum to Geeta Bhavan (where the locals will go for a Sunday brunch of pongal and avial) to Fine Arts with its kacheris and arangetram, will wake up on Finals day to watch their boy with a mop of curls held back by a rocker's headband — another phase Chembur boys go through — play the biggest match of his career. "You know, if I had another kid, I wouldn't put him in sport. It's just too stressful for our family to watch, especially my wife. I'm seasoned to take his victories and losses, but she's not played the sport, so disappointment and elation equate to losses and wins for her. Ajay's seen lot of defeats. But tomorrow, my parents and us will watch the final together," father Jayaram says. "I stopped advising him at 18-19 on the game. Tomorrow, I just want him to make this chance count." Twenty years after Sr Jayaram made the big decision of persisting with badminton, he wants the son to step up on the biggest day and take some of his own.
