Hopefully next time, I will win gold: Kidambi Srikanth

Even when Kidambi Srikanth lost meekly the first game against two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China in the men's singles quarterfinals at Rio 2016 last week, he had not given up. He may have gone down in the first game 6-21 but the fire in his belly was burning strong.

The 23-year-old gave a tough fight to the Chinese superstar and even the world No. 3 and eventual semifinalist acknowledged with a nod on more than one occasion some of the shots the highest-ranked Indian played in the second game.

That Srikanth won the second game to force the encounter into the decider in itself was something worth writing about, considering that the Guntur lad was playing in his first Olympics and was up against someone who is not only nine years elder to him but also has two Olympic gold, five World Championship titles besides six All England crowns.

But Srikanth is not satisfied.

"Definitely, I had my chances in the third game against Lin Dan," he told dna from Guntur after having woken up late in the morning after the previous day's felicitation functions, including one in which he was presented a Rs 25-lakh cheque by Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, went late into the night.

"If I had got those two points there (in the third game), the whole scenario would have changed. Having said that, I still played well and I'm happy with that game," he said as steady stream of relatives visited his house.

Srikanth may have come up against the Chinese, whom he regards as his idol but on the court, he was an example of the current generation of Indian sportspersons that personifies aggression.

His coach Pullela Gopichand had said prior to departing for Rio that the current athletes were not merely satisfied in participating in the Olympics but are desirous of winning a medal.

Srikanth said: "Everybody wants to win. The attitude of today's athletes has changed. They have very good aggression. To have that feeling of winning for the nation, giving something back to the nation is foremost. I did not want to go there, play and come back. I wanted to go there, give my best with the aim of winning a medal for the nation."

"The whole idea of representing the nation has changed. Only representing the nation doesn't give us satisfaction. Winning a medal and making the nation proud is what we look for," said the right-handed shuttler.

He added that the aggression came from "the passion we have for the particular sport we play and the amount of hard work we put in training. We work so hard thinking of winning that medal".

Unlike in the past when athletes went around collecting autographs and souvenirs at the Olympic Games, Srikanth was focussed on his game. That he won his first three matches – two Group stage games and the pre-quarterfinal against higher-ranked world No. 5 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in straight games – reflected on his concentration.

"I did not get too much time to go out. I was inside the stadium," he said.

Srikanth was in the stands cheering his academy mate and silver medallist PV Sindhu in the thrilling final last Saturday. He said he felt that he too missed out on the chance of being in the big stage – the final.

"Yes, I was there for her matches. It was so nice to see somebody from India win a medal live. We saw Saina (Nehwal) win bronze the last time. I hope in the coming years, we might see a gold as well."

Why can't that gold come from Srikanth himself four years hence?

"Everybody goes to Olympics thinking of winning gold. I did it. I lost by a small margin. Next time, hope I will be stronger and win gold," he said with confidence. "When I saw Sindhu play the final, I felt bad for myself that I could not win my quarterfinal match. At the same time, I was happy somebody was representing India in the final.

"Everybody thinks that way (of winning gold). Every time they see somebody playing the final or winning a medal, they will definitely dream of themselves being there. I had that dream. I had that thought of being there at that moment in the final. These things depend on how much hard work one puts," said Srikanth, admitting that he could not avoid the thought of him not being there in the medal round.

Srikanth is certainly richer for experience from Rio. One would expect him to go even higher in Tokyo 2020. But for now, after giving himself a well-deserved week's rest with family in Guntur, it will be back to Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad on Monday for training for his immediate two back-to-back tournaments, the Japan Open Superseries in Tokyo (September 20-25) and Korea Open Superseries in Gyeonggi-do (Seoul) (September 27-October 2).

While Srikanth said that his debut Olympics "was a very good experience", he felt that the Superseries tournaments "were more competitive".

"In Olympics, you get only the top players. In Superseries, you have so many players, everyone in the world top 30 play. In Olympics, the world's top 10-12 or the best from each country gets to play. Superseries is a little tougher.

"In Superseries, right from the first round, it is serious competition. In Olympics, you play some of the weaker players in the initial rounds, players who are ranked lower. You are challenged from the quarterfinal round. Having said that, Olympics is special as it gives the chance to represent the country."

QUOTE

I did not want to go there, play and come back. I wanted to go there, give my best with the aim of winning a medal for the nation. The whole idea of representing the nation has changed. Only representing the nation doesn't give us satisfaction
--Kidambi Srikanth

SRIKANTH AT 2016 GAMES

Group stage
Beat Lino Munoz 21-11 21-17
Beat Henri Hurskainen 21-6 21-8

Pre-quarterfinals
Beat Jan O Jorgensen 21-19 21-19

Quarterfinals
Lost to Lin Dan 6-21 21-11 18-21