Kidambi winning silver at BWF World C'ships historic for Indian badminton: Dinesh Khanna
Dec 19, 2021
New Delhi [India], December 19 : Former India shuttler Dinesh Khanna on Sunday said that Kidambi Srikanth winning a silver medal at the BWF World Championships is a historic moment in Indian badminton.
Srikanth on Sunday had become the first Indian man to win a silver medal at the BWF World Championships. Singapore's Loh Kean Yew defeated Kidambi in the summit clash 21-15, 22-20. The final lasted for 43 minutes.
"It is disappointing from India point of view and Srikanth point of view. But it is a historic performance as he won the silver medal. He was up against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore who played well. He had beaten many top players in the tournament. Srikanth at one point was leading 13-11 but Yew held his nerves," Dinesh told ANI.
On Saturday, Srikanth had created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to enter the final in the men's singles category of the BWF World Championships in Huelva.
In an all-Indian battle, former world number one Srikanth rallied to defeat Lakshya Sen by 17-21, 21-14, 21-17 in a thriller that lasted for one hour and nine minutes.
"It was a great tournament as we won two medals. First was won by Prakash Padukone in 1983 then Sai Praneeth two years ago and now two medals in this tournament. A bronze medal by Lakshya Sen and a silver medal by Srikanth is a great performance," Dinesh said.
"Lakshya Sen played well in the tournament beating higher ranked players and then a close match against Srikanth. Expectations from him are going to be high in future. Srikanth also won 4 super series in 2017 but after that could not win any. So, this silver will give him a lot of confidence. I think the future of Indian badminton is very bright," he added.
