P. Kashyap hopes to qualify for the Rio Olympics and win a medal too. Clearly the gold medal triumph in badminton at last year’s Commonwealth Games at Glasgow has motivated the 28-year-old Hyderabad player to aim for bigger laurels.
“I just kept looking at the colour of the medal at Glasgow and now I want to win more medals. One can expect bigger things from me,” said Kashyap at an Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) event here on Wednesday.
Ranked No. 10 in the world, Kashyap revealed that some harsh, but encouraging words from national coach P. Gopi Chand and support from OGQ, had enabled him to lift his performances in international meets in recent times.
He had an excellent run, winning three matches including against China’s Chen Long, in the BCA Indonesian Open this month before going down to Japan’s Kento Momota in three sets.
Kashyap also said the change in the system of training had contributed to the positive results from many Indian players who are in the top 50.
“Previously the top ranked Indian players would practice with local players in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai; but in the last two years we have been training together at national camps, which has made all of us competitive and sharpened our skills,” said Kashyap, who has started training for the Jakarta world championships from August 10 to 16.
