@Cheung Yes, indeed. I also got the point. From 32 medalist at 2017 World Championships, only 12 players (Ahsan/Rian, Kamura/Sonoda, Tontowi, Kamilla, Chau Hoi Wah, Hong Wei, Son Wan Ho, Ayaka Takahashi, Fukushima/Hirota,that's mean only 37.5%) which weren't a medalist in junior championship. So, 62.5% still have ever won a medal in their junior age. PV Sindhu is gold medalist at AJC 2012 Saina Nehwal is gold medalist at WJC 2008 Become World Champion or gold medalist at Olympics without any outstanding junior achievement is a rare thing. Also it's easier to develop players since in the early years (U-13 and U-15) make them a future great players by winning a junior championship (world/asian/european then followed by making them a world champion. In this situation, Kidambi Srikanth would be the case of a rare thing. He's already surpassed Sameer Verma, 2011 AJC runner-up. And wow, It's amazing fact about Srikanth while he's junior. He was playing in MS, MD and also XD at 2011 AJC (individual).
If AJC medals count Lakshya sen has 2 AJC medals. Lakshya Sen won Silver medal in 2017 AJC Lakshya Sen won bronze medal in 2016 AJC, he lost to Sun Feixiang in the Semifinals. In 2016 WJC he lost in QF to Sun Feixiang in 3 games. Senior Level 1.Bulgarian Open IS 2017 MS Champion (beat Sam Parsons in R1) 2. Runner Up Senior Nationals 2016 (Beat Daniel Farid, Harsheel Dani and HS Prannoy on his way to the final) 3. Runner Up India IC 2016 U-19 1. India IS 2016 MS Champion beat Malaysia's Zii Jia Lee
Srikanth Kidambi looking at reducing SS tournaments to 10/15 next year. He wants to improve consistency. He might sign some sponsorship deals by the end of the year. Link: https://www.sportskeeda.com/badmint...&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sportskeeda Excerpt: I really want to play a fixed number of tournaments and don't want to play all the tournaments and push myself for the ranking," I will play around 10 tournaments and then play the Commonwealth and the Asian Games, the World Championship and then there is Syed Modi which is compulsory and PBL, so it would make it 15-17 tournaments anyway. I am happy with the way it went for me, it was fantastic. I beat some tough players this week. I can't even say it was a dream come true because I never dreamt of winning three titles this year. I really want to continue playing well I just wanted to continue what I did this week and not do anything fancy. I feel I have to be more consistent in the coming months, "It was a good year for me. After coming back from injury, I played really well. There are more Super Series tournaments to go and I really want to finish well." My management company IS in talks with some major firms and may be after these two tournaments, I will announce some sponsorship deals," he said
Why does he want to limit it to 10? He's a young player, he's not in his 30's. Look at the pro Tennis players. Most pro Tennis players average between 22 and 30 tournaments a year when they're in their 20s. Some play as many as 35. Hell, even 36 year old Federer has played in 16 tournaments so far this year. https://www.atpworldtour.com/en/rankings/singles As someone who likes watching him play, that's disappointing to be honest
A copy-paste from a post in 'BWF Calender 2018' Because tennis is less explosive compared to badminton? Tennis kinda requires more stamina, while badminton demands more on power explosion in a match. That certainly plays a role in how the calender competition actually is designed. Taking into consideration on peaking frequency, duration to reach peak, length of time to performing at the peak, etc.. This basically translates into how the tournaments seen by players and national association. Also keep in mind how the team events operate differently between tennis and badminton. Fed, Hopman and Davis cup played in an entire year while TUC and SC are in a week. Certainly the way NA approach these cups in preparing their player's peaks are different than in tennis. I believe, player should not be forced to play in more than 10 SS in a year, preferably only 8 actually. That already leads to about 13 tournaments in a year after including SC or TUC, WC / OG, continental championship, SSF (for some) and some other national / regional championships (for some). Note: please stop comparing badminton with tennis in terms of tournament participation intensity. the comparison is like heaven and earth as they have different game play characteristics
Tennis may be less explosive (although exactly how much is debatable) but Kidambi is not an old uncle. He's a 24 year old. Tennis players actually cover a lot more ground and some matches can last for 2+ hours easy. Stan Wawrinka's match against Andy Murray in the French Open semis lasted 4 hours 30 minutes. Even in Badminton, participating in only 10 BWF tourneys is on the really low side. In the last 12 months, Akane Yamaguchi and Sung Ji Hyun have participated in 18, PV Sindhu in 17, Son Wan Ho in 18, Chou Tien Chen in 19, and Tzu Wei Wang in 21. Compare that to the 2 old players: Lin Dan has participated in 11 and Lee Chong Wei has participated in 9. So Kidambi actually wants to play less than 34 year old Lin Dan! None of these totals include Asian Games, IBL, CWG, or any National Championships, by the way. You write as if Tennis is like golf
Srikanth Kidambi wants to maximise his chances of making finals and winning titles. He has had injury issues. The total tournaments will be 10 SS +Thomas Cup+ Commonwealth Games + Asian Games, WC, PBL, Syed Modi +Senior Badminton Nationals = 17 Tournaments. Indian players don't have the fitness levels of Korean, Chinese or Japanese players. See Tan Kim Her's interview on Indian body structure and limitations, in an earlier post.
Mindset of an injured player who has recovered from the injury is very different from the one who has not been injured. I feel he must be the best judge of his body, and if he thinks 10 is the right number, it is right for him, no matter what the world suggests.
This year, Kidambi also playing in minimized amount of tournament. I'm agree about playing effectively doesn't need to join in more and more tournaments. In such condition, players may need to improve more in a specific skill. The right strategy by not sending player in more tournaments, especially for experienced player. More tournament gives good exposure in competition and it gives real challenge for the player, but sometime you need something to add in your skills bag which is very important for such top 10 players. Failing to compete with enough weapons may bring the player down-falling into nowhere after a long time facing the same failure. Once the player being in a great form, more and more opponent will study how to beat them. This will make another challenge to keep your playing in a great form for another time.
Prakash Padukone Video Interview https://video.scroll.in/854918/vide...tory-of-the-sport-in-india-through-his-career
Have you compared the amount of money they get for winning a tournament between the two sports? I suspect he could maximise earning potential more by playing fewer tournaments and do more sponsrship appearances in India. If a player can earn a couple of hundred thousand USD for winning a tournament, probably that would incentivise playing more tournaments.
Lol! She is one of my favourite players and we talk a lot about her playing Sindhu and Saina. As a great rival to India's top WS, she has earned special guest appearances on this thread! Okuhara is also a great role model of how to conduct oneself.
Check out the French Open draws: http://bwfworldsuperseries.com/results/2677/yonex-french-open/2017-10-24 http://bwfworldsuperseries.com/results/2677/yonex-french-open/2017-10-25/ Difficult Qualifier Draw: Pranav Chopra & Sikki Reddy will face Tontowi Ahmad/Lilyana Natsir Difficult Round1 draws: Prannoy HS will face Lee Hyun Il (TV Court) Parupalli Kashyap will face Anthony Ginting Manu Attri & Reddy Sumeeth will face Ivanov/Sozonov
PV Sindhu's the only one getting significant endorsements. Saina Nehwal too, to a lesser extent. But on the men's circuit no one is getting any endorsements. See: http://www.firstpost.com/sports/kid...t-enough-to-attract-endorsements-3750377.html http://www.business-standard.com/ar...icketers-for-endorsements-117062700227_1.html Google "Kidambi endorsements". All you'll see is articles of "talks" but no actual deals being finalized. Like I said, only PV Sindhu and Sainia are getting the endorsement deals. There's an interview on YouTube with Sai Praneeth and Kidambi where this issue is talked about for a few minutes too. -- And while Tennis does pay more, Tennis players pay for their own coach, their own physio, their own nutritionist etc. They also pay for their (and their staff's) traveling. Kidambi doesn't have to pay for Gopichand/Mulyo nor does he have to pay for the physio or the flights or the hotel stays.
Olympic Medals are the key to big endorsements. Saina Nehwal got Olympic Bronze in 2012 with immediate spike in endorsements and amount paid. PV Sindhu earned a lot after the 2016 Olympic Silver Medal. Srikanth Kidambi has not accepted the offers as he wants a higher price. He is trying to win more SS titles than he can try bargaining for a better deal. But he will see significant rise in endorsements once he wins an Olympic medal. Same goes for all other Indian players.
