Kidambi Srikanth must reduce errors, says Gopichand

New Delhi, December 21

Advertisement

Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has lauded Kidambi Srikanth for winning a historic silver medal at the World Championships but said he will need to cut down on his errors in order to remain consistent through a busy 2022.

The 28-year-old from Guntur, a former world No. 1, on Sunday became the first Indian man to claim a silver at the prestigious tournament.

“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 said. “He got his form in time but 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.”

Having missed the Tokyo Games due to a mix of injuries and cancellation of qualifiers owing to the pandemic, the shuttler feels the Olympics is not the end of the world. “Olympics… I was also disappointed. If you look at it, I was still the highest-ranked player from India. But some tournaments were supposed to happen for the Olympics qualification. Nearly, seven to nine tournaments got cancelled,” Srikanth said. “I felt that day that Olympics is not the end of the world. I thought that I will have my own chances.” — PTI