Kidambi Srikanth ecstatic on historic World Championship medal, eyes India Open gold

Kidambi Srikanth scripted history by clinching a silver medal in the men's singles event at the BWF World Championship 2021 held in Huelva, Spain. He became the first Indian shuttler to achieve the feat.

The 28-year-old Indian shuttler lost 21-15, 22-20 to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in the finals of the badminton tournament.

Srikanth's historic World Championship medal helped him jump four places to regain his place in the world's top 10 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. He is currently standing in 10 position in the rankings.

Srikanth had missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to injury. He spoke about the mistakes that cost him first place in the tournament.

"I am extremely happy. It is always a dream for me to win a world championship medal. I am very happy to win silver. I think I did some unforced errors I was leading 18-16 in the second game and then it became 18-20. Maybe if I would have scored another point then the game would have been different. But maybe I feel that I did some unforced errors. So, I will talk to my coach tomorrow and the day after where I went wrong and work on it," said Kidambi Srikanth.

Kidambi Srikanth is proud to represent India

Srikanth spoke about the pride that he takes in representing India and winning a medal for the nation. He further added that although he missed out on winning gold, this defeat in the finals will push him to do better. The Indian shuttler also thanked the Sports Authority of India and BAI for their support.

"It is always a special feeling to see the Indian flag rise wherever you are in any part of the world. As an Indian when you see this Indian flag rising above and flying high then you always have those goosebumps. I would have loved if it would have been gold but I was still very happy because I could make that Indian flag rise high and also I always dreamt of winning a medal, standing on that podium and it is like big dream come true for me," said Srikanth to ANI.

Kidambi Srikanth's next target:

Srikanth's next goal is to win the India Open. The India Open tournament is scheduled to take place from January 11-16, 2022 in New Delhi.

"India Open is one tournament where I always did well and I am really looking forward to playing the tournament again. Also because of the good performances that I had in the last few months and that is one tournament that I really have confidence in and (hope) to win that tournament as well," shared Srikanth.

Also read: Newly-crowned world champion Loh Kean Yew, Sindhu, Srikanth, Lakshya to compete at India Open 2022