Kidambi Srikanth went through two of the most traumatic phases any sportsperson would dread to even think of!
First, when he fell unconscious during a training session at Gopi Academy before the last edition of 2014 Commonwealth Games and then had the longest break away from sport for four months in 2016 because of an injury.
When his proud father Kidambi Venkata Sesha Krishna looks back now after his son has become the World No.1 in men’s singles rankings, he struggles to control his emotions.
“We just didn’t know what happening and what was in store for him when he was hospitalised then. We felt terribly down then. But, by God’s grace he was back on his feet. Yes, it was the most difficult phase when we look back,” he recalls.
What exactly are his feelings now? “Honestly, we were hoping this to happen last year-end but because of injury he had to skip a few Majors. But it is better late than never,” he says.
“Srikanth should stay longer as No.1 as Lee Chong Wei did for more than 190 weeks. Not easy but not impossible,” says a confident father.
“The fact that this World No.1 ranking has come within a week of the Indian team winning a historic team gold in the Commonwealth Games makes it all the more special,” says K.V.S. Krishna.
What is his advice to the champion shuttler? “Stay cool on and off the court. Be honest,” says Krishna even as he and the proud mother Radha Mukunda are predictably in a celebratory mood.
The champion shuttler’s father traces the fabulous journey from Guntur Urban where 18 years ago, Srikanth used to walk across from his home to the Indoor Stadium as the parents wanted him to be in the cooler ambience than dabble with anything on the streets in the heat.
“Well, being myself a sportsperson (played cricket till district level), the early thoughts were to just indiscreetly find out where he was good. And, it turned out to be badminton,” recalls Sesha K.V.S. Krishna.
“The huge plus was that my elder son (K. Nanda Gopal) being a badminton player and the first to make a mark, Srikanth quite naturally followed where he went. That’s how the two went on to do well in the circuit,” he says.
“Well, once Nandu moved to Gopi Academy in 2007, within two years Srikanth joined him there and that is clearly the decisive moment of his career. Now, thanks to Gopi all these results are coming,” says a visibly delighted father who shifted his base from Guntur to Hyderabad after Srikanth started making waves in the badminton circuit.
