Ahead of the Badminton World Championships, World No.10 and one of India’s big hopes Parupalli Kashyap has said that the draw for the elite event matters little to him and stressed that one needed to be on top-of-his-game against all opponents.
“The draw is fine for me. But as I said earlier there is very little difference between the top-30 players of the world. A very minute percentage to be precise. So you have to be very careful and give your best in all the matches," Kashyap said, as reported by the Times of India.
Recently, chief coach Pullela Gopichand had said that the 28-year-old was playing the best badminton of his career at the moment and Kashyap concurred with his coach’s view but felt that it would eventually boil down to who plays well on that particular day.
"Like in 2013 I am in good form now. Maybe a shade better than 2013 as I had won a few titles. But it all depends on how good I am on that particular day . All the players prepare very well for the Worlds so nothing is easy there.
In order to prepare mentally for the tournament, Kashyap has also seeked the help of a psychologist and said that he found the sessions extremely beneficial and hoped that they would help him out during matches.
“The sessions were quite helpful. It's surprising that I learnt new things about myself. It's a revealing experience. I am very confident after the sessions. I am sure they will help me a lot in matches," Kashyap further said.
Talking about the conditions that will be on offer in Jakarta, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist said that the courts would be off faster pace and sounded slightly apprehensive about the shuttles they would be using for the competition.
"The courts are fast with a lot of drift on all sides. We have the experience of playing there but one area of concern is that instead of Yonex they will be using Li Ning shuttles. We all are used to playing with Yonex in Jakarta. There will be some difference,” he concluded.