Srikanth to return in Hong Kong after a week’s rest

TIL Desk Sports/ Star India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has pulled out of the China Open Superseries due to a niggle but will be back in action after a week’s rest at the Hong Kong Super Series where he will have the chance to reach the World No. 1 ranking.

Srikanth, currently the second ranked men’s singles player, decided to take a week’s rest after aggravating a leg injury during the Senior National Badminton Championships in Nagpur.

“I am pulling out of China Open (November 14-19). It is a muscle strain and doctor advised me to take rest for one week. It happened in the Nationals but because I kept playing it got a little worse. But I should be ok in a week,” Srikanth told.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), however, said that it was just a coincidence that Srikanth sustained the injury at the Nationals, the dates for which were pre-fixed in consultation with all the top shuttlers of the country. “I think it is wrong to say Nationals were responsible for his injury and it is wrongly timed,” BAI secretary general Anup Narang said.