On the back of his Swiss Open victory and No. 4 ranking, Kidambi Srikanth is the number two seed for the Yonex-Sunrise India Open that gets underway here on Tuesday. On the women’s side, Saina Nehwal has the top billing in an attempt to be the first Indian to win the home tournament in its current Super Series format.
Giving the Indian men a good run for their money, All England finalist Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark is the top seed and China’s two time Olympic gold medallist lin Dan is the third seed. lin Dan will be making his first appearance in the tournament. Running high on confidence after his China Open victory over Dan the past year, Srikanth said his never say die attitude has been the biggest reason for a surge in his ranking. “What really helps me above everything is that I don’t give away points and keep trying hard to stay in a match or turn it around if things not going well,” he said.
Also part of the fold is Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Championship winner and former India no. 1, Parupalli Kashyap who, like Srikanth, had a disappointing All England Championship going out in the first round. “Anything less than a place in the Sunday final won’t be a good tournament. I’m 100 percent at the moment and practicing hard for the past two weeks without any problems. Of course I miss being the no.1 and I want to get it back,” he said with a smile.
Dan, making a brief appearance before the media, acknowledged the organisers, the fans and the support of everyone involved to bring him here. Nicknamed ‘Super Dan’ then rushed out stating he had to train. Kashyap, once World no.6 in the world, stated Indian players had become much to be feared on the world stage. “I don’t know what others are feeling about it (Indian players’ form) but it is good that Indian badminton is going up and gaining more popularity. Probably they look at us with more respect now or with fear that we can also get some results. I’m not sure really but it’s a good sign that things are getting better,” Kashyap said.
With rankings going up, things will get difficult for the Indian male shuttlers to maintain those top spots. Srikanth acknowledged that fact and stated he had been working on improving his game to be less predictable. “I’m working on a few styles of my game to be less predictable. Not only attacking play but also prolong rallies. I’m working on it and it doesn’t come easy but needs time. But I definitely prefer attacking play,” he added. Raising a few eyebrows, Saina was missing from the event ceremony which Badminton Association of India president Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta rubbished off as a “one-off case”.