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Working on defence, adding variation to my game: Kashyap

It's Been Six Months Since He Won Any Major Title But An Optimistic Parupalli Kashyap Is Not Losing His Sleep Over His Slump In Form And Is Determined To Bounce Back With A Strong Showing In The World Championships Next Month.

PTI | Updated on: 03 Jul 2013, 07:25:20 PM

New Delhi:

It's been six months since he won any major title but an optimistic Parupalli Kashyap is not losing his sleep over his slump in form and is determined to bounce back with a strong showing in the World Championships next month.

India's top male shuttler, Kashyap has made some specific plans to prove his detractors wrong, who has been questioning his abilities ever since he made the first round exits from Singapore and Indonesia Super Series events.

The Hyderabadi lad said he is working on his defence and rallies besides adding more variation to his game.

"Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand) has planned out a new schedule for the World Championships. Singapore and Indonesia were totally different and World Championships in China will be a different ball game. It was little tough for me in Indonesia and Singapore. I need to be more quicker in China," Kashyap told PTI on the sidelines of a function here.

"I am preparing myself for longer rallies, more defensive kind of play. That's where I came up short in my previous two tournaments.

"There are few corrections need to be done in my defence and add more variation to my game. I am working on that and I hope to hit good form before the World Championships. In the last two tournaments, I did not perform well. Hope to rectify my mistakes before the World Championships," he added.

The last three tournaments saw Kashyap making first round exits, which resulted in him losing about 5,610 ranking points and fell seven places from a career-best sixth rank to 13th spot in men's singles.

"I did not play well in Indonesia where I was totally out of sorts. I was not in the rhythm. In Singapore, I played really well against Takuma Ueda and lost from a match point. I really fought hard," he said.

Kashyap, who had reached the quarterfinals of the London Olympics and also won the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold last year, said his aim is to get back into the Top-10 and qualify for the Super Series finals.

"My aim is to get back into the top-10. I want to do well in the World Championships and qualify for the Super Series finals. I know I can come back and the best part is I am fully fit," Kashyap said.

Kashyap, who is one of the six icon players in the upcoming Indian Badminton League (IBL), said he expects the tournament to raise the profile of the game in the country.

"I expect it to be successful and I expect badminton in India would become more popular. I hope I can live up to the icon player tag in the IBL," said Kashyap, who managed to reach the quarterfinal at the All England Championships in early March this year.

The IBL is all set to hold its first players auctions here on July 19 with more than 150 shuttlers expected to go under the hammer for 66 slots in six teams. Each franchisee can feature 11 players, including a maximum of four foreign shuttlers and one under-19 player from their catchment area.

There will be a total of six icon players starting with a base price of USD 50,000 in the auction, for whom franchisee will bid from draw of lots. Indian stars Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Kashyap and P V Sindhu will have icon status in the auction, while a leading foreign star will be the sixth icon player.

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First Published : 03 Jul 2013, 07:24:00 PM

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