Happy being a dark horse; hope I can make India proud: Kidambi Srikanth

MEN'S SINGLES SHUTTLER KIDAMBI SRIKANTH will be featuring in his first Olympics starting next month in Rio. Srikanth is the highest ranked player among the men in the country. He gained popularity when he became the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier men's title in 2014. What made it more special was that, he trumped five-time World Champion Lin Dan to lift the trophy.

In 2015 he became the first Indian male shuttler to win gold at Swiss Open GPG and later backed it with another title in Delhi, the India Open SS. These achievements helped him climb up the rankings ladder to No. 3.

But it was soon ceased with his first round exits at various tournaments because of which his rankings slipped. The only title he has this year is the Syed Modi International title. However this didn't let him down and he wasn't worried of not being able to qualify for the Olympics.

"I was tense but not for my qualification, it was my game that I was worried about since I knew if I can play well, I will automatically qualify," he said to PTI.

"I was not worried about my ranking, I was worried because I was not getting time to train. I was playing one event after another whether it was PBL, Malaysia, SAF games, or German Open or ABC, there was simply no time. But I think it kind of helped me identify the areas where I need to work on and it helped me in my preparation of Olympics. Every match counts, every tournament counts, whether it is a win or loss, it is all about how you take it. You need to take the positives out of every match you play. So it kind of helped me."

It is not an easy task for the 23-year-old as he will be up against champions Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei etc.

"They are the most experienced players who have played in the last 2-3 Olympics and I think they will have an advantage. But it doesn't help everyone all the time. It can help to get a few close points but then there are so many players who win a tournament or a medal playing for the first time. So it doesn't help always. It is tough for the top players because there are too many expectations and pressure, so I am happy being a dark horse or an underdog."

Currently preparing for mega event, Srikanth is happy with his training period.

"It has been a good one and a half month for me. After a long time I could get a necessary break and I really could work on overall aspects of the game."