17 September,2014 08:40 AM IST | | Nitin Mujumdar
India's star shuttler has been slogging it out on court in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games (Sept 19-Oct 4) and hopes to excel in Incheon; says he savoured home cooked food on his birthday
India shuttler Parupalli Kashyap at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Pic/Getty Images
Last year India's star shuttler Parupalli Kashyap reached his highest ever world ranking of 6 (on March 14). This year, though has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride.
India shuttler Parupalli Kashyap at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. Pic/Getty Images
After clinching a historic individual gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he had a disappointing outing at the BWF World Championship in Copenhagen, losing in the very first round to Germany's Dieter Domke. However, he has been slogging it out on court in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games (September 19-October 4) and hopes to excel in Incheon.
"I've been practicing hard, three hours on the court in the morning and two hours of running and weight training in the evening. I lacked preparation time in Copenhagen as there was a very short gap between the Glasgow Games and the World Championships. That bit of extra preparation and physical fitness would also helped," said Kashyap, who recently celebrated his 28th birthday (September 8).
No birthday party
"There was no party though as I was very tired due to my hectic schedule. On my birthday, I just savoured some maa ke haath ka khana (food cooked by my mother). She prepared some lovely daal-palak. Homemade food is like a treat for me as I'm travelling most of the time," said Kashyap, who hardly watches any TV and finds it impossible to catch up with the latest movies. The last Hindi film he watched was the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen that released way back in March.
