A new sporting hero has emerged. Not one, who
comes from the upper echelons of cricket but from a sport which was developed
in British India, became a hobby sports before emerging as India's most trusted
discipline at the Olympics in the last decade.
For two weeks now, badminton has trumped cricket probably for
the first time in history and the engineer of this turnaround is 24-year-old
Kidambi Srikanth.
Last two Sundays, Srikanth stood on the podium with the
Indonesia and Australia Open crowns shining bright in his hands and these were
moments that this country had starved for many decades. The first Indian to win
back-to-back Super Series titles, his fourth title -- a feat unmatched by any
Indian men.
Life will hopefully not remain the same for the Andra Pradesh lad
anymore. He will be rightly hailed for his achievement, bestowed with accolades
including cash prizes from different quarters. Hopefully he will earn a few
sponsorship deals and whopping contracts and between all this Srikanth would
probably just think how important but futile at the same time all this
hullaballoo is in the larger context.
Perhaps, thoughts of him quietly landing in India and rushing
away back home last year after the Rio Olympics would still be fresh in his
mind. All the glitz and glamour now will probably heal the pain of that
heart-wrenching loss to Lin Dan in the quarterfinals but it won't erase the
dent, not until he achieves his dreams of winning a medal at Tokyo.
If you scratch the surface, you will find a story of mental
fortitude. In a short four-year career in senior circuit, Srikanth has seen
both the highs and lows. After bursting onto the scene with a stunning win that
demystified the legendary Super Dan at 2014 China Super Series Premier and then
finding a place in the heart of his countrymen with a win at the India Super
Series in 2015, he went through a run of poor form.
He qualified for Olympics but saw his dream crash after coming
within touching distance of a medal. Worse happened. He suffered a stress fracture
in his right ankle and spent three months on the sidelines. With his ankle in
bandage, he decided to work on his upper body. He spent hours with his physio
and trainers, doing what he was in his hands. His ranking dropped. From the high
of World No 3, he had sunk to the 30s by the time he had made a comeback at the
Premier Badminton League.
He had a decent outing at PBL but that didn’t translate into
success in international circuit. He lost early at Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold.
He went back, worked hard and then came looking for redemption at India Super
Series but he crashed out in the opening round, leaving him stunned and silent.
He hardly could make out what had happened, finding it difficult to explain his
loss to the reporters at Siri Fort stadium.
But one of the rare traits that defines a champion is the
never-say-die-attitude and his loss at the Olympics and those two weeks when he had shut himself from the world had left him little
detached from both win and loss. His equanimity in success and failure was
tested in the last two weeks and he came out in flying colours.
His win over Olympic champion Chen Long and his compatriot and
friend H S Prannoy's stunning victory over Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long showed
the world and more importantly to Indian shuttler that they are not unbreakable.
Perhaps, this is what Indian badminton have gained in the last two weeks, the confidence to go all out against whosoever comes in the way and remain unscathed by both success and failure.
Perhaps, this is what Indian badminton have gained in the last two weeks, the confidence to go all out against whosoever comes in the way and remain unscathed by both success and failure.
Perhaps Srikanth would go on to win a world championship in August or the All
England Championship next year or maybe he won’t but one thing for sure the day is not
far when an Indian will certainly achieve all these. It’s time to grab our
place under the sun.
