Want to talk to my physio first before I get on court again: Srikanth

HONG KONG: Kidambi Srikanth suffered his third straight quarter-finals loss but says Indian badminton has a bright future, after injury woes sent the fourth seed packing from the Hong Kong Open.

He was the first Indian to reach number one in the world badminton rankings in April but has slumped since his loss to Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei in this year’s Commonwealth Games final. “We’ve been doing well here and there. But I really want to make it a consistent performance,” he said after his Friday loss to Kenta Nishimoto.

“I’m improving in that particular area, being consistent around the tournaments we play. I think we will all definitely have better results in the coming years.”

Srikanth struggled to get low against Nishimoto and blamed defensive mistakes for his 21-17, 21-13 loss to the Japanese eighth seed. He plans to use the days ahead of next week’s Syed Modi International back home to work on his return to form.

“Before that I really want to look at myself,” he said.

“I’m not really 100 percent fit and I’m having small injury worries. I just want to talk to my physio and coaches first before I get on court again.”

Eighteenth-ranked Sameer Verma was the final Indian player sent home from the tournament Thursday after his shock three-game loss to hometown hero Lee Cheuk Yiu in the final eight.

MOMOTA STUNNED

Top-ranked Kento Momota was sent packing in the Hong Kong Open semi-finals Saturday after a stunning semi-final loss to South Korean Son Wan-ho.

Son triumphed 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 in an exhausting 89 minutes — the longest match of the tournament so far — after seeing off a late boost from the Japanese star in the decider.