Srikanth will need to curb his errors to be more consistent in busy 2022: Gopichand

The
28-year-old
from
Guntur,
a
former
world
number
one,
on
Sunday
became
the
first
Indian
man
to
claim
a
silver
medal
at
the
prestigious
tournament.

In
the
summit
clash,
Srikanth,
currently
ranked
14th,
blew
leads
of
9-3
and
18-16
in
the
two
games
against
Loh
Kean
Yew
to
see
the
coveted
title
slip
out
of
his
grasp.

Historic
day
for
India
as
Kidambi
Srikanth
becomes
first
Indian
man
to
win
silver
at
BWF
World
Championships

“Srikanth’s
game
got
sharper
and
sharper
as
the
tournament
went
by.
He
was
lacking
in
confidence
when
he
started
playing
this
year
but
some
performances
against
players
such
as
Lee
Zii
Jia
and
Kento
Momota
gave
him
some
confidence,”
Gopichand
told
PTI.

“He
got
his
form
in
time
but
he
will
need
to
curb
his
errors
to
be
more
consistent
as
he
prepares
for
the
big
year
ahead
where
there
will
big
ticket
events
like
the
Commonwealth
Games,
Asian
Games.”

Srikanth
will
be
defending
his
men’s
singles
title
at
the
Commonwealth
Games
and
is
expected
to
play
a
big
role
as
India
look
to
retain
the
mixed
team
gold
at
Birmingham.
He
had
a
stellar
run
in
2017,
securing
four
super
series
titles
in
five
finals.
It
was
a
rare
feat
achieved
only
by
the
likes
of
Lee
Chong
Wei,
Lin
Dan
and
Chen
Long
in
a
calender
year.

However,
the
year
ended
with
Srikanth
suffering
a
knee
injury
during
the
French
Open
in
November,
and
he
aggravated
it
at
the
national
championships.
The
Andhra
Pradesh-born
shuttler
managed
to
claim
the
coveted
Commonwealth
Games
gold
at
Gold
Coast
in
2018
and
also
remained
world
number
one
for
a
week
in
April,
but
then
came
the
slide.

The
knee
injury
and
other
niggles,
especially
related
to
his
ankle,
affected
his
performance
and
he
eventually
missed
out
on
the
Tokyo
Olympics
after
three
qualifiers
were
cancelled
due
to
the
COVID-19
pandemic.

“With
back
to
back
tournaments,
sometimes
it
becomes
difficult
for
a
player
to
recover
from
an
injury.
Srikanth
was
troubled
by
his
injuries
as
he
rushed
himself
back
from
it
with
the
Olympic
qualification
at
stake,”
Gopichand,
the
2001
All
England
champion,
said.

“But
it
is
good
to
see
him
sustain
long
three-game
matches
in
Spain
and
he
has
been
also
playing
continuously
right
from
the
Sudirman
Cup,
so
it
is
a
good
sign.”

India
had
three
players
in
the
men’s
singles
quarterfinals,
with
HS
Prannoy
and
Lakshya
Sen
also
entering
the
last
eight,
apart
from
Srikanth.
While
Lakshya
lost
to
Srikanth
to
sign
off
with
a
maiden
bronze
in
his
first
attempt,
former
top
10
player
Prannoy’s
fine
run
came
to
an
end
at
the
quarterfinals
after
he
lost
to
eventual
champion
Loh
Kean
Yew
of
Singapore.

Gopichand
said
the
fine
performance
of
the
Indian
men’s
singles
players
augurs
well
for
the
team
ahead
of
a
hectic
2022.
“It
is
good
to
see
three
shuttlers
reaching
the
quarterfinals.
While
Srikanth
reached
the
finals,
I
think
Lakshya
also
did
very
well
and
Prannoy
also
put
up
a
good
performance
at
the
tournament.
Praneeth
played
well
in
patches,
Sameer
is
also
looking
good.

“It
is
good
to
be
on
the
bright
side
ahead
of
an
important
season
ahead,”
he
signed
off.