Parupalli Kashyap is concerned about his comeback in the World Championship that is scheduled for next month rather than decline in form. Kashyap has chalked out some plan to answer his critics who have been pointing out their fingers on his skills ever since he crashed out of the first round from Singapore and Indonesia Super Series events. Currently, he has shifted his focus on his defence and is trying to add much more variations to his game.
The Hyderabadi lad was quoted by Times of India saying, "Gopi sir (Pullela Gopichand) has planned out a new schedule for the World Championships. Singapore and Indonesia were totally different and World Championships in China will be a different ball game. It was little tough for me in Indonesia and Singapore. I need to be more quicker in China."
"I am preparing myself for longer rallies, more defensive kind of play. That's where I came up short in my previous two tournaments. There are few corrections need to be done in my defence and add more variation to my game. I am working on that and I hope to hit good form before the World Championships. In the last two tournaments, I did not perform well. Hope to rectify my mistakes before the World Championships," he added.
He explained why he looked so down and out in the last three major events and was quoted by The Hindu saying, "I did not play well in Indonesia where I was totally out of sorts. I was not in the rhythm. In Singapore, I played really well against Takuma Ueda and lost from a match point. I really fought hard. My aim is to get back into the top-10. I want to do well in the World Championships and qualify for the Super Series finals. I know I can come back and the best part is I am fully fit."
The IBL is all set to hold its first players auctions here on July 19 with more than 150 shuttlers expected to go under the hammer for 66 slots in six teams. Each franchisee can feature 11 players, including a maximum of four foreign shuttlers and one under-19 player from their catchment area.
There will be a total of six icon players starting with a base price of USD 50,000 in the auction, for whom franchisee will bid from draw of lots. Indian stars Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Kashyap and P V Sindhu will have icon status in the auction, while a leading foreign star will be the sixth icon player.
He concluded by saying, "I expect it to be successful and I expect badminton in India would become more popular. I hope I can live up to the icon player tag in the IBL.”
