India's former world No. 1 men's singles shuttler Srikanth Kidambi makes it into his first final in Malaysia after beating Japan's Yushi Tanaka 21-18, 24-22 in the Malaysia Masters semi-final on Saturday (May 24).
The 32-year-old Kidambi, who played two more matches than other semifinalists starting from the qualifiers, says he just hopes to be match fit for the final against Li Shifeng of China on Sunday.
00:00This will be your first final actually since the 2021 World Championships yeah you know so
00:24that's a very very long time so how does that feel?
00:30Again I really lost track of it but again it feels very happy to win matches
00:39Okay Shere Khan you also spoke about you know injury coming back but you see now you've actually made it to the final
00:45Just looking at the men's singles department right now we see lots of big game players who are all on protected ranking away from the game
00:53and it might take some time before they get back to it
00:57Do you see this as an opportunity for you to get back into the elite league?
01:02Yeah maybe you know I have
01:06I really have to get some points and be back into the top 31st in order for me to avoid playing those qualifications
01:15So yeah you know just see you know whatever I can definitely try and do
01:21Shere Khan where has the energy come from you know from qualifying round you have come to the final and you are not young so how have you got that energy?
01:30I am very young at heart maybe
01:34And again you know really thanks to everybody in my whole team here you know guru and other physio called Suman you know they've been ready what we have
01:43Okay so you see given your age you know you're somebody who just persevered you came back from these injuries and you're playing
01:53Closer to home for us we've got one of our players who just came back from a long layoff and then got injured again like and he's very young
02:01If you can give an advice to these younger players who are injured what would you say?
02:06See first of all you know sport has become so challenging it is not easy to predict whatever you do
02:14I am pretty sure he must be 101% prepared to play that tournament
02:21I am sure he must have really worked hard to come back from an injury and to be able to match to be able to be match fit and play tournaments and
02:28You know these things do happen and sometimes you can't really predict what is going to happen in the next point
02:35So it's really very unfortunate what has happened to him
02:38But I really wish him all a very speedy recovery and really hope to see him back again
02:44As a three-hound look you were last year as a three-hound look you were last year
02:50I mean you're out of competition
02:55Probably maybe five or six months
02:57So it's like second half of the year
02:59Second half of the year
03:00Second half of the year
03:01What has given you the motivation to keep fighting and you want to come back to play badminton?
03:06I just love playing the sport that's it there's no other reason I just love playing it and that is what I'm doing
03:12So now you're still aiming to win champion at all the major big tournaments like World Championship or
03:20You see I
03:22See for me it is first about being physically fit, being injury free
03:28And then the tournament I play I really want to play
03:31So I don't really want to be
03:33You know played any tournament at this stage with some injuries
03:37So I just want to train enough so that I will be able to last enough
03:42So you're looking forward to the final you will face either Japan or China
03:46So what are you looking for?
03:49Yeah see it's going to be a tough match for sure
03:51I'm just I really want to play my best match
03:55I don't really have it
03:57Okay physically how are you feeling now?
03:59I might know tomorrow morning but as of now I'm feeling very good
