I still have a very long way to go and believe that I can get better, really want to do well in 2024 Olympics: Srikanth Kidambi

Srikanth was recently a guest on Times of India's sports podcast Sportscast and talked about his badminton journey so far, family support, the roller coaster ride he has had since 2018, the upcoming Commonwealth Games and much more. “Since 2018, there have been a lot of ups and downs - there were a lot of highs and there were a lot of lows. 2018, after a very good 2017, we won the gold at the CWG, where I also won the silver (singles) and became world number one, then Asian Games - I got injured after that - 2019, the qualification period started. By the end of 2019 I really started playing well (again). I played the semi-final of a Super Series and then in 2020 I played a semi-final and there were decent performances, but then Covid-19 happened and the Olympics got pushed to 2021. Again in 2021, I started off really well but then the tournaments got cancelled and I couldn't qualify for the Olympics - these were all the lows that I went through. But since September (2021), since the tournaments resumed and since the time I started playing tournaments again I slowly started to do well. I start off with a couple of quarter finals and semi-finals and then the World Championship finals (won silver) and then the Thomas Cup win - it's a steady graph I feel and that is always good I think, because it shows that you are improving every day,” Srikanth Kidambi said on TOI Sportscast.

(TOI Photo)Though his world ranking currently reads - 11, Srikanth is considered to be a player who on his day is capable of beating any player in the world, regardless of ranking etc., Srikanth touched a new high in his career last year when he became the first Indian male shuttler to enter the final of the World Championships. He went on to win the