Kidambi Srikanth: It was more about winning a medal

Kidambi Srikanth. Pic/AFP

History-making Kidambi Srikanth can't get his World Championships silver medal achieved last Sunday out of his head. Playing his first final since the 2019 India Open, Srikanth went down fighting to Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 15-21, 20-22 in the summit clash. He bettered the World Championships feats of legendary Prakash Padukone (bronze in 1983), B Sai Praneeth (bronze in 2019) and Lakshya Sen, whom he beat in the semi-final en route his final.

In a chat with mid-day, the Guntur-based shuttler reflects on his historic feat, his semis with Lakshya and overcoming a topsy-turvy year disrupted by injuries and COVID-induced lockdowns.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Has the feeling sunk in?
The feeling has definitely sunk in. I am very happy I won a silver at the World Championships and I am not really thinking too much about the fact that I am the first men's singles player from India to reach the final. It was more about winning a medal.

How will you sum up the year?
I started off really well. The first tournament I played was Thailand Open [January 12 to 17]. I injured my calf muscle, but recovered and played the next tournament where I won my first round and then my roommate B Sai Praneeth tested positive. Being a close contact, I couldn't participate. I quarantined myself and later participated in the World Tour Finals, where I lost all three matches, but they all were very close games. I couldn't really play well at the All England, but again, tournaments got cancelled for six-eight months. I couldn't get time. I trained really hard and the Sudirman Cup [September 26 to October 3] happened. That's a long circuit from then and I played around eight-nine tournaments. I managed to reach two semis [Hylo Open and Indonesia Masters], a quarter-final [Orleans Masters] and played some very good matches on the way and finally the World Championships which worked very well. So yeah, I am quite happy with the way the year has been. It was a slow progress, but I'm very happy with it.

There were a lot of firsts that happened at the Worlds.
I am more happy that I played well and won a silver at the World Championships. I am very happy with the way it has been for Indian badminton, but more happy that I am part of the historic firsts.

How do you rate Lakshya?
I have been following his performances for the last three-and-a-half months [we were together]. I see how well he has improved. He played some very good matches in the last three months and entered the semis. I was expecting a very tough fight [in the semis]. If he can be consistent, you can definitely see much better results from him.

You won four Super Series in 2017. Post the knee injury, your form was affected. The pandemic created disruption. What kept you going?
I was injured, but I was okay by January 2020. I was able to do well. But unfortunately, COVID-19 happened and with the lockdown, tournaments got cancelled; Olympics got pushed. And, the same got repeated in 2021 as well. I couldn't qualify [for Tokyo Olympics]. I knew that the World Championships were scheduled this year and there will be other tournaments in Europe. So, I was only focused in training and doing well in those tournaments. I am happy that it worked out.