BWF World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth rated the semi-final against Lakshya Sen and the final against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew among his “best matches.” Srikanth, India’s first-ever finalist in the badminton world championships men’s singles event, told NDTV that the last two matches were of high quality. In a first-ever all-Indian semi-final in badminton world championships, the former world no. 1 had edged past the young Sen to reach the historic final. In the title clash, he lost to Kean Yew to take home India’s maiden silver in men’s singles.
“My 2014 win against Dan was a high-quality match. In 2017 where I won four tournaments, there also I played a lot of quality matches. Every match is important so would not like to rate them. These two will definitely will be one of my best matches,” Srikanth told NDTV when asked about whether these two matches were equivalent to his victory over the great Lin Dan back in 2014 in the China Open final.
Srikanth lost the final to Kean Yew 21-15, 22-20 on Sunday. The match lasted for 43 minutes. “It was a close semi-final and final. In the final if I had won one or two points here and there could’ve been different,” he said.
Srikanth is only the fourth Indian after Prakash Padukone (1983), B Sai Praneeth (2019), and Lakshya Sen (2021) to win a world championship medal.
Srikanth said he is currently a “better version” of 2017. “Frankly I now feel a better of version of the 2017 Srikanth. Injuries will happen to any player. Important is how well you get back. I always believed in myself. It was a matter of time before I started winning again. I worked hard and now I’m happy with the way I was able to perform,” he said.
When asked about the performance of young shuttlers in the absence of players like Kento Momota in the world championships, the Indian said he concentrates on his own game.
“I don’t look at competition. I only focus on myself, always. I want to win matches, medals. I don’t compare myself with anyone or look at what others are doing. The sport is evolving. Everyone wants to win. Everyone will give more than 100 per cent. Have to be alert. Can’t do any simple mistakes, can’t give weak points,” he added.
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The 28-year-old said he prefers to play an aggressive style of badminton.
“For my game net-play is very important. I play aggressive badminton. Lakshya and Spain have similar styles. They also want to play aggressively at a higher speed. Maybe we will see more players adapting to this style,” Srikanth added.
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