Badminton player Kidambi Srikanth poses for pictures during a promotional event, in Hyderabad, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
“I still believe that I am good enough to play for another four years at the highest level,” said former World No. 1 and champion shuttler Kidambi Srikanth.
Speaking at the announcement of his partnership with sports brand Hundred, the 31-year-old Srikanth said he had been training really hard since the last two-and-a-half months and hoped to regain his winning touch soon.
“My immediate target is to do well in the Indonesian and the Malaysian Opens. There are no fitness issues and I am raring to go,” said a confident Srikanth.
The former World championship silver medallist said that he didn’t foresee any major challenges having been there in the circuit for close to 15 years now.
“The standard of the game has gone up for sure but I don’t feel it is yet unreachable for me,” said Srikanth. “I would love to be back at my best and make all the efforts needed to achieve that goal,” he said.
“No one becomes a World No. 1 in any sport just like that. We in India have great talent and I am sure there will be many more No.1s in the future,” he added.
“In terms of infrastructure we are getting better and have improved a lot since I started playing in 2010. Everyone has to come together to support sports in a big way. We cannot only look at the governments, central or state, or any one company to do that. There has to be a collective effort to provide the desired impetus to sports,” he said.
On his partnership with Hundred, Srikanth said that they would be organising a couple of exchange programmes for coaches and players with Asian powerhouses in badminton from this April to help Indian shuttlers move to the next level.
Published – January 17, 2025 06:41 pm IST
