Only winning matters, not ranking boost: Srikanth
Indian shuttler, Kidambi Srikanth, fresh from clinching back-to-back Super Series titles, has put winning over world ranking while crediting national coach Pullela Gopichand for his success.
Srikanth won the Indonesian Open and Australian Open Series in successive weeks, leading a new surge in men’s badminton, after Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal’s achievements in the last few years. Srikanth defeated Chinese Olympic and world champion Chen Long 22-20, 21-16 in the final of the Australia Open on Sunday. Indians have won the last three Super Series titles, with B Sai Praneeth having claimed the Singapore Open in April, beating Srikanth.
“It’s good to be back in the top 10 for sure,” Srikanth told the media on Tuesday on returning to Hyderabad from Sydney. “But I didn’t play these tournaments just to come back in top 10, but to win them.”
Srikanth has set his sights on the August world championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
“Even in the world championships, I will look to perform well and win. That’s the only thing I am thinking about and not the rankings. I really want to continue training hard in the coming months because that’s the only
THE 24YEAROLD HAS BECOME THE SECOND MOST SUCCESSFUL INDIAN PLAYER IN SUPER SERIES WITH FOUR TITLES. ONLY SAINA NEHWAL (10) IS AHEAD.
way to be consistent.”
His remarkable run included victories over Korean world No 1 Son Wan-ho in Indonesia and Sydney. The Indonesia win saw his world ranking jump 11 places to 11. The Australia Open will put him back in the top 10. “Every win was important for me. I don’t really want to compare those wins,” he said.
Srikanth, 24, has become the second most successful Indian player in Super Series with four titles with only Saina Nehwal (10) ahead. Sindhu has two wins.
Srikanth praised Gopichand. “He is the man behind all the success of badminton what we have here today. If he wouldn’t have become a coach after he quit his playing career, all this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Srikanth was hit by injury after the Rio Olympics, but has enjoyed a dream run since April. “It has been fantastic. After the injuries, I really didn’t want to push myself too much, just wanted to train, get better. And it really happened with the help of new coach (Indonesia’s Mulyo Handoyo, Taufik Hidayat’s ex-coach) and Gopi Sir.”