Kidambi Srikanth, former World No. 1 and India’s biggest medal hope in men’s singles at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (from July 28), is keen to “experience the feeling of winning a gold in the Games”.
The 29-year-old Srikanth, silver medallist in the last edition, seems to have rediscovered his form for the better half of this year so far. He played a significant role in India winning the prestigious Thomas Cup, remaining unbeaten in all his singles matches, and said he is definitely gunning for gold.
“The preparations are good, though I got to train only for a week. But, it is a nice feeling to take care of some finer aspects in the run-up to the CWG,” Srikanth said in a chat with The Hindu.
Playing well for the last six months
Srikanth, who won a record four Super Series titles in 2017, said he had been playing really well in the last six months.
“It also happened that this is the only time we had played a lot of tournaments. Last year and in 2021 there were no tournaments. It is always good to play a lot of them,” he said.
“For me, I just can’t really train for five or six weeks and play a tournament. I have to play a lot of tournaments before any big event. I am just happy with how everything has been going on in the last two or three months,” he said after an exchange of thoughts with chief national coach P. Gopi Chand, who was giving him some tips.
“I don’t say there have been any forced changes either in my game or training methods in the recent past. If there is a change, that is good,” he said.
Srikanth said that Gopi and coach Siyadatullah had been deciding his training programme. “I am quite happy with how things are going right now,” he added.
Birmingham will be a tough outing, says Srikanth
On the chances in the CWG, the soft-spoken shuttler said it was going to be a tough outing. “Lakshya, Loh Kean Yew and I won medals recently in the World Championship. Anything is possible,” he said.
“I think Loh Kean Yew and Lakshya are playing well. Players from Malaysia are also doing well. It is definitely going to be a good competition, that’s for sure. I think the level of the players is high this time around. I just have to be at my best to win the gold,” Srikanth signed off.
