Kidambi Srikanth, India’s top-ranked badminton player in the men’s circuit, is not unduly worried by his lack of silverware in the recent past as he gears up to make a mark at the Tokyo Olympics next year.
“It has been a great season, I think. Haven't been playing for the last two months, but it's been a great 2019. There are many more tournaments coming up. So, I'm really looking forward to doing well in those," Srikanth, who was in Chennai to inaugurate the VSR Sports Academy, powered by India Sports Floorings, said.
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“I think I've been doing well. I'm really confident about how I'm playing against all the top players. So, it's about time, I started pulling off things."
Srikanth also spoke about his mindset and preparations heading into the Olympic year. "If it's about Olympics, I think there's one more year left. It's about playing the tournaments before Olympics and then qualifying for the Olympics first. There are about 15 tournaments until April next year. I would like to do well. Probably win some tournaments and I'm working towards it," the 26-year-old said.
Srikanth, who has a poor 3-10 record against current world number one Kento Momota of Japan, accepts the advantage the left-handed player enjoys. “For us, in India we don't really have too many left-handers to practice with. So, that advantage he'll definitely have. And that is what it is. That is how it is for many countries,” he said.
"The left-handers have really dominated the sport. In the past, Lin Dan, and now Momota... I think left-handers really have an advantage, but it's really important to put your head down and train."
Srikanth will next play the Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
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