P. Kashyap, at 33 years of age, has a decent chance to qualify for the Olympics for the second time.
According to Road to Tokyo-Badminton World Federation Olympic qualification rankings, Kashyap, at World No. 22, is third among Indians behind Sai Praneeth (11) and Sourabh Verma (21).
The Olympic rules state that nations may enter a maximum of two players each in men's and women's singles, if both are ranked in the world's top 16.
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Likely route
The 2014 Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist is not too worried about making the cut. “We have eight to nine tournaments [before Tokyo]. [Am] not sure whether I’ll play all. I have been saying this from last year. Just qualifying for Olympics doesn’t excite me.
“I want to be a contender for a medal. We [men’s singles] have to aim for that,” he said.
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“I want to get back into shape. Two years back I was thinking of quitting, but got some confidence after some good results last year.”
Ranked as high as No. 6 in April 2013, Kashyap conjured up similar form last year. He started his good run in March in the Indian Open (BWF Tour Super 500) where he reached the semifinals (lost to Viktor Axelsen) and then entered the Canada Open (BWF Tour Super 100) final and in September, made it to the semifinals of the Korea Open (BWF Tour Super 500).
But, Kashyap is not reading too much into his performances.
“I want to keep improving. The last three years, I have been struggling as I kept getting injured. I was not able to train 100 per cent. However, in the last six months I have been feeling a bit better, lost a few close matches at the end of the year,” he said.
On PBL
On the Premier Badminton League, Kashyap, playing for Mumbai Rockets, said: “It’s something like a change, where there is a different kind of atmosphere, and good team spirit,” said the 2012 London Olympics quarterfinalist.