Srikanth Kidambi suffered heartbreak at the BWF World Championships where he had to settle for silver after losing to Loh Kean Yew in the finals in Spain. The last few years have been very tough for Srikanth with persistent injury problems and waning form.
After a stunning 2017 where he won four Super Series and was propelled to the World No. 1 ranking, Srikanth never really achieved that level in recent years. However, despite his heartbreak in the finals, Srikanth created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to clinch the bronze medal at the BWF World Championships. Earlier Prakash Padukone and B. Sai Praneeth could only manage to win bronze medals in similar events.
Speaking on winning the silver medal, the star Indian shuttler said, “It feels great to play the final. It was a special tournament for everyone. The best is yet to come. I want to put my head down and work hard. I am ready to work with Gopi anna (Pullela Gopichand) and improve my game.
Srikanth is in no mood to celebrate as he is focused on staying consistent for the upcoming important events. He is keen to do well in those events aswell.
“There is no time to celebrate as we have the Indian Open next and then All England, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other important tournaments. These next eight months are very crucial.” Srikanth added.
The former World No.1 revealed that missing the Tokyo Olympics was a major setback in his career. However, he realised that it was not the end of the road for the Indian shuttler.
“During the first phase of Olympic qualifiers, I was injured. But when the second phase started, I was fit and confident of qualifying for the Games. But many tournaments were cancelled due to the pandemic and hampered my chances,” the silver medallist at the World Championships revealed.
Coming back to the World Championships in Spain, Srikanth was asked whether the build-up to the tournament with several three-match encounters wore him out in the finals against the Loh Kean Yew. Srikanth replied, “I don’t think the tough semifinal against Lakshya Sen had a bearing on the final. In big events, these are common. Even in the final, I had my moments. But I committed a few errors. It all boils down to how well you play in that one hour on the given day irrespective of all the training preceding the match day.”
It will be interesting to see how Srikanth Kidambi performs in the upcoming events. Indian badminton needs him to keep performing at the top level before he passes the baton to someone like Lakshya Sen.
