In a major comeback following a series of injuries, 23-year old Sourabh Verma claimed the men's singles title at the Chinese Taipei Open after he defeated Malaysia's Daren Liew in Taipei City. Verma grabbed the first two games, 12-10 12-10 and, won the third when Liew backed out due to a shoulder injury with the scoreline at 3-3.
"It is a great victory for me and a much needed one. I had reached the finals at Belgium and Poland but could not win. So I was determined not to make the same mistakes here and I am happy I could win today," Verma said. He added, "My opponent was playing well but in the third game, he felt some shoulder pain and retired. He was in fact leading in the first two games and was very comfortable. I started well but made too many mistakes. But I managed to pull off the opening game. In the second game also, I gave away too many easy points but I am happy I could control it in the end." Sourabh began off well in the opening game, leading 5-3 at one point, however, Liew changed the quo with a five-point burst to lead 8-5. The second game was tougher for him as his Malaysian opponent once again reigned with a 5-1 lead, and held on to 10-6. The third game saw an initial battle of 3-3 with Liew retiring at the point due to a problematic shoulder.
"This year I didn't get to play too many tournaments. But after reaching the finals at Belgium and Poland, I was gaining in confidence. If I could have played more events then probably I could have won the titles. I was in top 30 in 2015 March but suddenly my ranking dropped to 190 and that is the biggest hindrance, if I could have played I could have done better. I'm concentrating on the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Golds now. I am playing Bitburger Open next. I have to get into the top 40 as soon as possible to get entry into superseries event."
