In the span of a week, with successive Super Series titles, Kidambi Srikanth is the toast of Indian badminton. And rightly so, for no other Indian badminton player has managed to win back-to-back Super Series.
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Last Sunday, Srikanth beat the world and Olympic champion Chen Long - against whom his record was 0-5 before the final in Sydney - in straight games 22-20, 21-16 to claim his fourth such title and second in two weeks, following his 21-11, 21-19 success over Japan's Kazumasa Sakai in the Indonesia Open Super Series final.
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Srikanth, now at 11th place in the BWF men's singles rankings, will next turn out for India at the World Championships to be held in Glasgow from August 21-27.
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He is set to march in to the top ten (either 5 or 7) when the new rankings are announced post his Australian Open win. The 24-year-old, who earlier this year was the recipient of the Times of India Sports Award for Badminton Player of the Year [ People's Choice ], spoke to TOI Sports during a busy return home to Hyderabad.
The last time we spoke, in May, you candidly admitted that losing in the Olympic quarter-finals still keeps you up. Are you sleeping better now, with two Super Series titles in a row?
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(Laughs). Yes, much better now, thanks. It feels really good.
Defeating Chen Long in the Australian Open final was exceptional. Here is a player known for his strong defence, but you totally dismantled him. What was your game plan?
afp
It will sound repetitive, but my plan was to just play well, that's it. Everyone knows how tough playing Chen is. He has a very good defensive game, he can play for long. It was about staying with him, because that's the only option you have. I just wanted to match him and play well.
You kept making him reach for the shuttle, kept him running across the court ...
afp
You can't plan too many strategies against him. He's an Olympic champion. You have to go with everything on that day, see how it goes. That day happened to be my day, it all worked for me. I just kept doing whatever I could do.
How do you manage to vary your pace so frequently? You really attacked the corners with Chen.
afp
I think it is because the last couple of weeks I was very confident. Playing that many finals gave me confidence, and being that confidence gave me more strength and all that comes with it ... the aspects you are talking about. If I had played him [Chen] in the first round in Indonesia, it would have been a totally different game. So, I would say it had a lot to do with my confidence.
It's also such a mind game. Chen is a world champion; you must have been very cautious of not letting him get ahead ... maybe not more than 1-2 points at a time?
afp
Yes, that was the most important thing. The last few times I played him, I lost some very close matches. So, this time I didn't want to give him a deadly lead. I wanted to cover the lead, to stay ahead and control the situation. Against such players, that is a big advantage, if you can do it. It isn't easy at all.
You said after the win that you were not challenging Chen, but yourself. Can you elaborate?
afp
Actually, the question to me by a reporter was about playing long rallies against him, and how I managed to do that. So, I said that the longer rallies were not to challenge him; rather they were to challenge me to see how fit I am. That's all.
In the Indonesia Open, you beat the world No 1 Son Han Wo in the semi-finals. In the larger context of what was to come, how critical was that victory? It lasted three games, clocked at one hour, 12 minutes ... can you talk us through that?
ap
Overall, if you look at the tournament in Australia too, that was the only match in which I played three games. It was tough, very long and physically challenging. Every time we've played, it's been close, the third game ... 21-19, sometimes an extension ... so going into that match I knew it would be long. I was prepared to play that longer game, which was really helpful. It was a very satisfying result.
So much of your game is about attacking, particularly, that jump smash. Perhaps nobody plays it better. How long have you been working on that?
ap
It has been a while, and the whole credit goes to Gopi sir. He's really helped me develop that shot. He's the one who has pushed me towards that. In fact, most of my shots and skills are because of his training. It's all due to his focus. I have really worked hard on improving that stroke, but I have not thought about how it looks to opponents. It's about working on every aspect of your game and to try to attain perfection.
Is this the best you've felt about your game - physically and mentally?
ap
Physically, I would say I feel fitter than what I was before the Rio Olympics. It feels really good. I have worked hard to get to this level. I have been playing really well for the last couple of months. I am feeling very confident. It is the best form of my life, the best I have played in my career, but there is still a lot more to come in the future.
An abiding image for me is how, after beating Sakai in Indonesia, you dropped your racquet and ran to your coach Mulyo Handoyo. Since Handoyo was roped in by Gopichand, India's singles game appears to have spiked. PV Sindhu has won two titles, Sai Praneeth too, and now your streak. What do you attribute this to?
ap
The kind of training he does has really helped, for sure. Training is now very different to what we used to do earlier. With Gopi sir's inputs and Mulyo's training schedule, it is really helping all of us [at the academy in Hyderabad]. Earlier, we used to have only Gopi sir's inputs, but now with Mulyo on board it is a bonus for us. I am really happy working with him. It is two great minds working towards one goal.
Is it a disadvantage that the World Championships are in August? Would you have liked to enter such a big tournament sooner, given your form?
No, to be honest. Every time I have trained hard for longer periods of time, I have performed really well. I would love to train for longer periods to keep getting better and keep pushing myself. As I said, there is a lot more to achieve.