Srikanth blames Nationals for his injury

Idyllic Srikanth Kidambi, for whom 2017 had been great in bringing the four BWF Super Series titles into his cabin, had marked the record in the Indian badminton history.

Srikanth was just two tournaments away to grab the chance of jumping to the top spot of the world badminton rankings, before China Open and Hong Kong Open, which he skipped to take the break from injury that he faced during the 82nd Senior National Championships.

He said, “I think yes. I played those two tournaments (the Denmark and French Open Superseries) in two weeks. I played all the ten matches and right after that, I came back and had to play the Nationals. If I would have skipped that, I wouldn't have suffered the injury. It would have given me more time to rest my body, train and play other tournaments,” he continued, “As the senior player, if I can't do something for this sport then it doesn't really help anybody.”

The injury, besides pushing him away with the dent from the top spot, marked as blemish for his Dubai World Super Series Finals tournament, where, the 24-year-old made an early exit after suffering the loss against Viktor Axelsen, Chou Tien Chen, and Shi Yuqi.

“I expected myself to play better but I hadn't played many international tournaments ahead of the event and that really made the difference. If it would have been any other superseries, I would have faced easy opponents and that would have given me the chance to settle in. But Dubai being such a big event, you can't really expect that to happen. Match practice is important and, in India, it is a little disappointing but that's how it goes,” said Srikanth.

With the likes of Saina Nehwal and Carolina Marin having already criticized the BWF calendar for its cramped schedule, Srikanth is keen to follow the pick-and-choose route endorsed by PV Sindhu.

BWF’s cramped 2018 calendar made the situations more complicated for the shuttlers, who now cannot participate the tournament out of their liberal choice. Srikanth added, “Next year, it's definitely going to be tough with the increased number of Super Series events and the Commonwealth and Asian Games. It's packed. It's important for me to think about my body, my fitness and plan for the tournaments. Definitely, I am going to pick and choose.”

Due to the gap he took before Super Series Finals, Srikanth couldn’t put his best on the court at the tournament in Dubai, which he doesn’t want to repeat from next year. World no. 3 is intended to play couple of tournaments before the India Open in late January next year, followed by the training in February for the Commonwealth Games and the All England Badminton Championships. However, Srikanth is already utilising PBL as practice sessions before the start of next year’s Super Series.