Nagpur: Ajay Jayaram has not won any international tournament in 2011 but series of impressive performances this season has helped him attain the career-best ranking of 24 in the world.
Although, last week he slipped to 28 in the rankings, it is no secret that he has been playing perhaps at his best at the moment.
The in-form Indian is determined to make his good form count and eying the title of the Yonex Dutch Open which will be held at Almere, Netherlands, from October 11 to 16. The 24-year-old has been seeded second in the week-long Grand Prix event and has got a favourable draw.
The withdrawal of top seed Boonsak Ponsana at the last moment has certainly boosted Ajay's title-winning chances. The world No. 10 of Thailand has pulled out because of back injury.
Ajay had done well in the last year's Dutch Open when he finished runner-up in the men's singles after losing a close final against Sho Sasaki of Japan. However, this time around, Ajay is confident of completing the unfinished job of last year.
"Defeat in the final in 2010 is a thing of the past for me. I am playing well this season and hoping to do even better this year. The draw is good for me. There are certain very good players but I back myself to go the distance," Ajay told TOI on Monday.
Third seed Przemyslaw Wacha, No. 4 seed Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei and local boy and No. 5 seed Eric Pang are likely challengers for Ajay, who is playing as a professional player for the German Club.
Besides Ajay, there are seven other Indians, including former National champions Chetan Anand and Arvind Bhat, who will be competing in the Dutch Open.
In the women's section, in-form Arundhati Pantawane of Nagpur, PV Sindhu and Aditi Mutatkar are in the fray.
Aditi (world No. 82) and Sindhu (world No. 76) are in the main draw of 32 but despite having better world ranking than these two Indians, Arundhati (world No. 72) has to play qualifiers.
Arundhati, who last week surprised everybody by storming into the final of the Czech Open, is top seed in the qualifiers and has to win two rounds to earn a place in the main draw.
"When I sent my entry for the Dutch Open, my rankings was not in the top-100 and that is the reason I have to go through the qualifying stage now," said Arundhati, who is, however, expecting to sail into the main draw with ease.
Indians in Dutch Open
Men's singles: 2-Ajay Jayaram, Chetan Anand, HS Prannoy, B Sai Praneeth, Anand Pawar, Arvind Bhat, Anup Sridhar, K Nandagopal.
Women's singles: Arundhati Pantawane, PV Sindhu, Aditi Mutatkar.
Men's doubles: Arun Vishnu-Kona Tarun, Pranav Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar.
Women's doubles: Pradnya Gadre-Prajakta Sawant.
Mixed doubles: Akshay Dewalkar-Pradnya Gadre, Pranav Chopra-Prajakta Sawant.
TOI