Dutch Open 2018 | Sourabh Verma battles injury to earn final's berth

The Indian finalist Sourabh Verma has to battle an ankle injury in the entire Dutch Open 2018 tournament, qualifying for semi-finals against a Dutchman Mark Caljouw after beating Thomas Rouxel in the quarter final. Winning the first game by a margin of 21-16, Sourabh then concluded losing the second game displaying 16-21, however, both the nation forced a decider, Verma raised his game in the final set winning with a score of 21-17 to make his way into the semis. 

In the final, Sourabh was going up against the top seed and home favorite Calijouw. Sourabh started off brightly racing away to a 5-2 lead, only to be pegged back to 6-6 by the Dutchman. However, that was the only time that the duo shared the same score at the same time as Sourabh grabbed the initiative and entered the break with a three point lead. The trend continued after the break as well with Calijouw coming close and Sourabh slipping away. The Indian finally put the game to rest with the scoreline reading 21-18.

The second game was worthy of a semi-final game as both players kept each other close with no one able to take a lead more than 3 points. After both players kept sharing points to level at 4-4, Calijouw took two straight points but Sourabh responded in kind and the scoreboard showed parity again at 7-7. The to and fro continued all the way to the midgame break where Sourabh found himself up by a point. After the break, Sourabh raced away to a 16-13 lead - the biggest in the game. But Calijouw responded by taking six of the next seven points with the scoreboard reading 19-17 in his favour. That is when Sourabh decided to up the tempo and took the remaining four points to seal the game and book a place in the final of the Tour 100 event.

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