Sameer Verma couldn't foresee as a qualifier for World Championships

Being injured in the recent past, Sameer Verma was not expecting to be qualified for World Championship that is going to be held from August 21st at Glasgow, Scotland. Though, he had chance of qualifying in May, he couldn’t do well at Singapore Open and his rank was fluctuating. Nevertheless, he got direct entry into the massive tournament. 

The 22- year old clinched title at Syed Modi International followed by reaching Quarter-final finish at India Open Super Series. But then, he suffered shoulder injury during one of his practice sessions, making him to skip Indonesia Open and Australian Open in June. 

“I had a chance of qualifying in May but I didn’t do well in Singapore and with Sai Praneeth winning and Srikanth also reaching the finals, the ranking was up and down. I knew I had a 1 or 2 per cent chance of still making it if there were withdrawals. But I wasn’t expecting it,” Sameer told PTI. 

“The injury affected my progress as it took 2-3 weeks for me to regain my fitness. It was also frustrating to not play at Canada for visa issues but US Open was a good tournament, despite my loss in quarters.” 

Beside B. Sai Praneeth, Kidambi Srikanth ,and Ajay Jayaram, Sameer Verma will represent India at World Championship in Men’s Singles category. And, it is the biggest team from India competing in this category along with P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Tanvi Lad, and Rituparna Das for Women’s Singles.

“It is a big tournament I know but then I will be playing the same players I play in Super Series and so I don’t want to think too much about it and put pressure on myself. My focus is on training hard and playing well there,” he said. 

“Looking at Srikanth winning at Indonesia and Australia has been a great motivation. We have so many good players against whom we train and I think this is an advantage. I know I also belong there. I have the game to beat the best and I want to crack the top 10. This would be one of the targets,” he added. 

Sameer is feeling grateful for receiving training from Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo. He said, “His long sessions have really helped us. If you notice Srikanth's final against Chen Long. He kept playing the rallies even in the third game, he didn't get tired and it is the difference that his training has made.”