New Delhi: The defence of four Super Series titles this season is not bothering Kidambi Srikanth as the ace shuttler is focused on staying injury-free and winning a gold medal at the upcoming Asian Games.
“The biggest challenge for me these days is to maintain my fitness. I actually have issues with both my ankles. After the Olympics I had issues with my right ankle but last year I hurt my left ankle at the Nationals. So I have to be more careful before I plan my tournaments. So staying away from injury, that is what I am trying to do,” Srikanth stated Sunday.
“Going forward there are 4-5 tournaments which are important this year, so the idea is to play at my 100 percent in all of them, without getting injured,” added the 25-year-old, who clinched the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Srikanth was in sensational form last season when he clinched four super series titles— French Open, Denmark Open, Australian Open and Indonesian Open. “I am not worried about matching last year’s performances because for me this year there are very few tournaments which I am actually thinking to do well,” he said.
Jayaram loses in semis
Fullerton: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram suffered a straight-game loss to the Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw in the semifinals of the USD 150,000 US Open BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament here Saturday. The 30-year-old Indian lost 13-21, 21-23 to sixth seed Mark in the men’s singles semifinals that lasted 36 minutes at the Fullerton Titan Gym.
