Mumbai: India’s top-ranked badminton player Kidambi Srikanth said that remaining fit for upcoming Commonwealth Games gold medal has been a priority for him, a reason why he skipped a few tournaments last year, which could have helped him become world No 1. 

Srikanth asserted that his aim is to become “world No 1 by winning tournaments” and not just reach quarters to earn ranking points. 

“For me, winning a medal at the Commonwealth and Asian Games is more important. If I wanted to be World No 1 and not win tournaments (CWG or Asiad), I would have pushed myself to play China and Hong Kong Open last year after the French Open,” said Srikanth, the current world No. 3. 

“And the kind of form I was in, I would have managed to play quarter finals in both the events and I would have went on to become World No 1 but I wanted to win tournaments rather than think about rankings. So I opted out of those tournaments and gave my body extra time to recover from injury,” Srikanth said at the India Today Conclave.

“I don’t want to play a quarter final of a tournament and become World No 1. I want to win the tournament and be World No 1,” he said. 

He feels that there is little to choose between the top shuttlers from various countries unlike the Chinese domination till a few years back.

“China has been the dominating force at the Beijing Olympics (2008) and London Olympics (2012). They won all the five gold medals but now the field is more open,” he said. 

“If you see the top men’s singles, at the top you have Viktor (Axelsen) from Denmark, second is Lee Chong Wei, who is from Malaysia, I am at No. 3 while China’s Chen Long is ranked four.” 

PTI