GoSports athlete Kidambi Srikanth qualifies for Olympics
He joins six other Indian players who have also qualified. Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth have qualified for singles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa for women's doubles, and Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are the first Indian men's doubles pair to qualify for the Olympic Games.
The 2014 China Open winner Srikanth will hope to lead the Indian badminton contingent to glory.
His idol and coach Pullela Gopichand spotted him in 2009 and took him under his wing. Srikanth possessed the ability to succeed in singles and he proved that in 2012 by claiming the Men’s singles title at the Maldives International Challenge.
He started garnering attention as he won the Thailand Open Grand Prix title and also won his first senior national title in the All India Senior National Championships in Delhi in 2012.
Srikanth’s stellar rise in the circuit took off in 2014 as he finished runner-up at the Indian Open Grand Prix. One of his greatest moments, however, came in November of the same year as he upset five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan in straight sets, also becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series Premier Men’s title. He also ended the season that year by becoming the third Indian male shuttler ever to break into the top five world rankings.
His purple patch continued in 2015 as he won the Swiss Open Grand Prix and the India Open Super Series titles. With 7 individual titles to his name, Kidambi Srikanth’s meteoric rise in badminton is a testament to the success India is witnessing in the sport.
With the timely and holistic support provided to him by the GoSports Foundation and his continued hard work and dedication to his craft, he has performed to his potential.
Speaking on the confirmation of his qualification for Rio 2016, Kidambi Srikanth, said, “I am extremely happy and proud to have qualified for the Rio Olympics. It has been my lifetime ambition to represent my country at the Olympics, and I am glad it has become a reality. I would like to thank my coaches, my support team for helping me get this far. I would also like to thank the GoSports Foundation for the continued support and the faith that they have shown in me. Their contribution in helping me win my international singles title at Maldives was crucial and there has been no looking back since then. I would also like to thank my sponsors Yonex who have also helped me in my journey.”
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