Kidambi Srikanth building up confidence and fitness for big 2022 season
Scuppered by injuries and COVID, the former world No.1, who missed Tokyo 2020, is aiming to regain his best form.
Kidambi Srikanth is a man on a mission.
An Olympics debut at Rio 2016 and four titles in 2017 propelled the Indian badminton ace to world No. 1 in 2017 and he seemed destined for big things going forward.
However, recurring injuries, including a serious one to his knee, hampered much of Kidambi Srikanth’s progress in the following years. COVID-19 and the subsequent changes in the tournament schedule meant that he was also unable to garner enough ranking points to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
Kidambi Srikanth has put all that behind him now though.
Starting with the Sudirman Cup in September, Kidambi has played in five consecutive tournaments and even made the semi-finals at the Hylo Open in Germany last week.
“I’m really happy with the progress I have made. I cut down on my errors, I was competing until the end,” Kidambi Srikanth told Olympics.com.
“This year has mostly been about practice for me. I played at the start of 2021, then had to take a break because the Olympics were happening. Only the last two months have been a period of continuous action, so it has given me a routine.”
Competitive matches and tournament situations have provided Kidambi Srikanth with some much-needed insight to improve tactically.
One of the key aspects he is working on is to finish off matches, something which was evident in his semi-final clash against Lee Zii Jia In the Hylo Open.
“I had my chances in that match. It was 19-19 in the first game and 20-20 in the second and those one or two points decided the encounter. It is a game of fine margins. I am very happy that I reached here and now it’s about getting better from here,” said Srikanth.
Now that he is at his peak fitness levels, with no niggles to manage or recover from, one crucial thing for Kidambi Srikanth is his mental strength.
“I am a person who likes to stay in the moment, I don’t like to think too much of the end result or losing a previous point. Yoga gives me the energy to control my thoughts and cut out the white noise,” revealed Srikanth.
It is especially important for the former world No. 1, with a schedule that is packed with big-ticket events.
There is the Bali leg of the BWF World Tour and the BWF World Championships to end this year before a massive 2022 season, which will have the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and another world championship.
“I’m confident about my body now. The target obviously is to win gold - I always play to win - and I want to take it one tournament at a time,” said Srikanth.
“I’ll tell myself to keep working hard and not give up. I feel I am almost there, it's just about winning some important matches to return to my best form,” he signed off.