New Delhi:
India ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth feels the Swiss Open win has put him on course for a first-ever Olympic qualification but says he still needs to be more consistent to actually make the cut for the 2016 Rio Games and achieve a ‘dream’ ranking of World No. 1 in future.
At 22, Srikanth is the best Indian male shuttler at World No. 4, courtesy his consistent performances over the last six months where he reached the semifinals of a few Super Series event, besides clinching the first-ever China Open Super Series Premier title.
Last night, Srikanth added yet another crown to his cabinet, winning the USD 120,000 Swiss Open at Basel, Switzerland after defeating the defending champion Viktor Alexson of Denmark, ranked sixth in the world, 21-15 12-21 21-14 in a thrilling 47-minute summit clash.
“It was a difficult match but I didn’t think anything like playing defending champion. I only played it as a final in which I wanted to win,” Srikanth told PTI.
“In the second game it was like I did few simple mistakes and gave away the lead, which I shouldn’t have done but in third I started playing little more aggressively and it worked for me,” he added.
At World No. 4, Srikanth is the best Indian male shuttler in BWF ranking, followed by Parupalli Kashyap (12th) and H S Prannoy (17th), and to qualify for the Olympics, an shuttler has to be inside top 16 on the cut-off date.
Talking about the Olympics, Srikanth said: “May be it will be my first Olympics but still I have one year left so have to be consistent. If you can plan from now, then there won’t be anything like that.”
Asked about his targets this year, Srikanth said: “By training I want to improve in every aspect of my game and keep winning as many matches and tournaments.
“Winning a World Championship medal is something I want this year but still winning any tournament gives you confidence.
