PBL 2018: Ajay Jayaram says North Eastern Warriors' title chances depend on doubles pairing

Guwahati: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram is optimistic of his team North Eastern Warriors’ chances in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) hopes that the Korean doubles pair will be key to their chances. [caption id=“attachment_4270759” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ajay Jayaram (C) at the press conference in Guwahati. Twitter: @NE_Warriors[/caption] “It is going to be a tough one (tournament) for sure. Every team has big names but if you look at our team, we have a perfect balance,” said Jayaram. “Although a lot of would depend on how Tzu Wei Wang and I perform but I also feel that our strongest point would be the Korean pair in the doubles section as they are a dominating force and will determine how our results turn out to be,” he added. Jayaram, who has reached the finals of the PBL consecutively in the past two years with two different teams, will surely look to make it a hattrick of finals leading his new team to the last stage of the tournament and make their debut season a memorable one. “Yes, I have been lucky to reach the finals twice in a row with two great teams but I don’t think that would add any pressure to my performances as I will go out there and perform to my best and try and bring in the desired result for the team,” Jayaram noted. The Warriors will be coached by Olympian Nitin Kanetkar, who will also be making his debut on the PBL front and had good things to say about his team after their first combined practice session. “We have the World No 10 (Tzu Wei Wang) and Ajay Jayaram who looked in great touch and everyone is getting to know each other and trying to understand each other’s game especially in the doubles section which looks like a strong point for our side. “We are raring to go and we will surely make the home fans proud of their team,” the coach concluded on a positive note.