London’s Rajiv Ouseph insists his Team Derby side are a force to be reckoned with once again in the AJ Bell National Badminton League this season, after the reigning champions kicked off their title defence with a bang on Monday.

Opening up their campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory over Surrey Smashers, Team Derby leapt straight up to second in the table.

Skipper Ouseph got things rolling in style, but was made to work hard in the men’s singles by the Smashers’ experienced Carl Baxter – who defeated English national champion Sam Parsons in week one.

It could have been so different for Baxter, who used his PowerPlay at 8-7 in the second game but saw his drop-shot fall agonisingly short.

And seven-time national champion Ouseph turned on the style in the final game despite a late fightback from Baxter to take the match 9-5 9-7 9-7 leaving him smiling from ear to ear ahead of a crunch clash with Loughborough Sport next week.

“I think it was really important for us to get off to such a fast start,” he said. “It’s something to build on for us and hopefully now we can go ahead and get into the top four.

“It’s tough to sustain that level for four or five matches so it gives us a bit of leeway in case we have some injuries or we don’t perform at some point down the line.

“It was a good start to the season for me personally too. It’s a tricky start and I’m very good friends with Carl.

“Last year I actually lost that game so to have a good start for Team Derby is very pleasing. Up to nine it’s a dangerous game and anything can happen.

“It was good that I was first up and it was a nice pressure to be under. I am captain and I wanted to come out and set the tone as much as possible.

“For us we’re focused on making sure we get back into the top four in the league, and then hopefully in the semis and finals things will take care of themselves again.”

Ouseph may have started things off for Team Derby, but it was youngster Grace King who stole the headlines.

The 15-year-old starlet was up fourth in the women’s singles, and convincingly beat Georgina Bland 3-1 to clinch the victory for her side and send the raucous University of Derby crowd into raptures.

And Ouseph believes the AJ Bell NBL may have seen the start of something special in local girl King.

He said: “At 1-1 the men’s doubles was key as it gave us some momentum after the mixed doubles, which was a tough loss, and the guys came back really well.

“Then young Grace came in and she did fantastically. For her first performance in the AJ Bell NBL it was really impressive to see and she showed a lot of maturity for someone so young.

“She didn’t really show that many nerves given the amount of pressure on her, and she was down after the third set, but she really composed herself and it was a brilliant finish.

“This is the whole reason we have the NBL; so people like Grace can come in and give such a good account of herself. She was under no pressure and she made it count.”

Fellow Londoner Toby Penty impressed on Monday night as he captained Birmingham Lions for the first time in their NBL opener, winning his men’s singles match against Eric Pang 3-1 and guiding his new team to a 3-2 win overall.

“My hope is to keep playing as well as I did against Nottingham,” Penty said.

“I have been playing quite well but not getting the wins so I want to keep beating the players in the top 50 in the world to boost my ranking.

“It is tough because it is a time of Olympic qualifying but I think I am showing the level I can play at.

“I don’t think I am a million miles away from being the UK’s number one. Rajiv Ouseph has been there for some time and deservedly so but I am trying my best to catch up with him.

“Maybe after the Olympics is the time to reassess and try to get the number one spot but at the moment I am more focussed on my world ranking and in trying to push on internationally.

“The career goal is to be in the top eight of the world. I want to get to that Super Series level and then become seeded for those events. That is a massive ask though because the standard of badminton has gone up massively in recent years but it is something that I definitely believe I can do.”

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