Always a dream to win a World Championship medal: Kidambi Srikanth

By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
New Delhi [India], December 22 : Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian badminton player to win a silver medal in the men's singles event at the recently BWF World Championship 2021 in Huelva in Spain. The 28-year-old shuttler from Guntur missed out on gold but is still happy to make it to the final.
"I am extremely happy. It is always a dream for me to win a world championship medal. I am very happy to win silver." said Kidambi Srikanth to ANI in an interview.
Srikanth was looking extremely good in the final match against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew but still lost the match in straight games. In the opening game, he was leading 11-7 but lost the game 15-21 and in the second game too he was leading 18-16 but lost the game 20-22.
"I think I did some unforced errors I was leading 18-16 in the second game and then it became 18-20. Maybe if I would have scored another point then the game would have been different. But maybe I feel that I did some unforced errors. So, I will talk to my coach tomorrow and the day after where I went wrong and work on it," said Srikanth to ANI.
In the semi-final, Srikanth was up against junior compatriot Lakshya Sen where he registered a hard-fought three-game victory to enter the final and Lakshya had to settle for a bronze medal.
"Frankly during the semi-final, I was only thinking about another match. I was not thinking about it as a semi-final or first round of any tournament. I felt that I have just won a match. It is also because I want to keep things very simple and don't want to put any pressure on myself and I was just happy that I was able to play well and the fact that I won 5 matches in the tournament," he said.
India finished with one silver and one bronze medal making it the country's best-ever performance in the men's singles event of the BWF World Championship. Lakshya Sen is 20 and has raised expectation for a brighter future in the men's badminton in the country.
"It is a very special feeling because it has never happened before and I am very happy that I am a part of it and Lakshya also has been playing really well. We can definitely see and expect some good results from him in the future. He is very young, hard-working and passionate. I am sure we will see some good results from him," Srikanth told ANI.
The year 2017 was a great year for Indian men's badminton as they clinched 7 superseries titles out of which 4 were won by Kidambi Srikanth but after that came a big dip in his form as he could not win any tournament of repute in 2017, 2018 and even failed to qualify for Tokyo Olympics. With people writing him off Srikanth made a great comeback in the World Championship and reached the final.
""I don't really want to compare myself with 2017 at the moment because right now I have come back from world championships with a silver medal. At the moment I am very high on confidence. I am feeling very good. Physically also I am feeling very good. I am able to move well on the court that is one positive from the last few weeks and I don't really want to say and compare myself with 2017. I do not want to say at that level where I was in 2017. All I want to say is that I am very happy where I am now and I will definitely try and push myself much harder. Next year there is Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and there is another world championship next year. I would definitely want to work and try and win medals in all those events next year," Srikanth told ANI.
The pride of representing the country for any sportsperson is special and to win a medal at a tournament and doing so in as big as World Championship is even more special.
"It is always a special feeling to see the Indian flag rise wherever you are in any part of the world. As an Indian when you see this Indian flag rising above and flying high then you always have those goosebumps. I would have loved if it would have been gold but I was still very happy because I could make that Indian flag rise high and also I always dreamt of winning a medal, standing on that podium and it is like big dream come true for me," Srikanth said.
"Definitely yes, it definitely felt like I missed out on a chance of winning gold but this loss would really motivate me to push harder and try for that gold next time," he added.
Srikanth's next target is now India Open a tournament he won in 2015 and since then he is yet to win it again. The India Open tournament starts on the 11th of January and that is his next immediate target as he has some fine memories attached to it.
"India Open is one tournament where I always did well and I am really looking forward to playing the tournament again. Also because of the good performances that I had in the last few months and that is one tournament that I really have confidence in and (hope) to win that tournament as well," Srikanth said.
Srikanth has thanked the Sports Authority of India and BAI for their constant support despite failing to qualify for Tokyo Olympics.
"I would really like to thank a lot of people because when you are doing well a lot of people will support you. During this tough Covid time when I could not qualify for the Olympics, there are still a lot of people who supported me. Badminton Association of India, SAI and TOPS have been very supportive. They always helped me and supported me in whatever I required for the sport. Even after not qualifying for the Olympics they supported me during the last three months. They really took good care of me and again without them it would not have been possible for the coaches and physiotherapists at the academy. They all have been really supportive. They helped me to get back to my 100 per cent fitness levels. In long tours, they have been very supportive. They took really good care of my physical state. They made sure the recovery is happening in the middle of the matches. They made sure I was fully fit for the next day's matches. So, I feel it is a teamwork. I am happy that I was able to prove them right and I would like to thank them for believing in me," he said.
Post the outbreak of coronavirus life has become very tough for a lot of sportspersons where they have to follow Covid guidelines and protocols which includes self-isolation and quarantine rules. Srikanth is now used to all these things.
"Initially it was very tough. I got used to it. I am very happy that at least the tournaments are happening."
After an impressive performance in the World Championship Kidambi Srikanth has jumped four places to regain his place in the world's top 10 in the latest BWF rankings. Srikanth is now ranked 10th in the men's singles ranking.