Badminton World Championships: Parupalli Kashyap Expecting Tough Competition in Worlds

Three weeks after winning a momentous gold medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap is set to take court in the Badminton World Championships, starting 25 August in Copenhagen.

It is unlikely that Kashyap will be able to go all the way as smoothly as he did in Glasgow, as the Hyderabadi has been given a tough draw. In the opening encounter, Kashyap will face Germany's Dieter Domke, who defeated him in Thomas Cup in Delhi.

Kashyap, however, has a 5-1 win-loss record over the German and if he manages to get past Domke, he will bump into Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei in the second round. The Malaysian has defeated Kashyap in all four meetings, and that too in straight games.

"I was aiming for a better ranking which would have given me an easier draw," Kashyap explained. "However, I was ranked somewhere around 20s when the draw was made and that explains the tough draw.

"I just need to play my best game. I don't have any special plans. At the World Championships, everyone has a chance. The important thing for me is to maintain my focus. It all depends on how the conditions are in Copenhagen."

Kashyap, who competed in both team and singles events in the Glasgow Games, said there was not enough time to prepare for the World Championships.

The former world number six added that it is difficult to completely recover for a big event after spending so much time on the court, but insisted that he will give his best in both the World Championships and the Asian Games.

"I have had very little time to prepare for the World Championships, only about 7-10 days," he said. "CWG was a long event, almost 20 days which includes preparation time, team championships followed by the individual championships.

"It was physically and mentally very taxing. Even though the level is not that high, it drains you out. It takes time to recover and get back in shape for another big tournament and I am trying my best to get into shape for the Copenhagen and Incheon majors."

Meanwhile, national coach Pullela Gopichand also feels that the timings of the upcoming major events are not ideal. Gopichand, however, is hopeful that the Indian shuttlers will continue their impressive CWG performance in the forthcoming events.

"This time the World championship is a different proposition altogether," Gopichand said. "But, the best part is that we are going into it after an impressive showing at the recent CWG. In women's singles, Saina [Nehwal] is back. Jwala [Gutta] and Ashwini [Ponnappa] continue to be the best medal hopes. The confidence is high in the team."