Direct entry for Sameer at world tourney

new delhi — Handed a direct entry at the World Championships, rising Indian shuttler Sameer Verma says he was not expecting to qualify for the tournament but now wants to make it count by returning with a medal from the prestigious tournament.

“I had a chance of qualifying in May but I didn’t do well in Singapore and with Sai (Praneeth) winning and Srikanth also reaching the finals, the ranking was up and down. I knew I had a 1 or 2 per cent chance of still making it if there were withdrawals. But I wasn’t expecting it,” Sameer said.

The 22-year-old from Dhar was in good form when he clinched his maiden Grand Prix Gold title at Syed Modi International in January. He also reached the quarterfinals at India Super Series.

He also played at Singapore Open before suffering a shoulder injury while going through the strenuous training sessions and it necessitated his withdrawal from Indonesia and Australian Open Superseries events in June.

“The injury affected my progress as it took 2-3 weeks for me to regain my fitness. It was also frustrating to not play at Canada for visa issues but US Open was a good tournament, despite my loss in quarters,” he said.

“It was my first event after injury and my game was good but not my best. It takes sometime to get back to your best.

But this one month break will help me to regain my top game and play against the best at the World Championship and hopefully win a medal.”

Sameer along with K Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram will be competing in the men’s singles competition at the World Championship, while Rituparna Das and Tanvi Lad also qualified behind Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. — PTI