Parupalli Kashyap upbeat to win a Asiad medal

Parupalli KashyapNew Delhi: A high-intensity training for last three weeks has boosted his confidence and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap says he is looking to maintain the rhythm as he sets out to achieve his dream of winning an Asian Games medal in Incheon, South Korea.

After a historic gold medal at Glasgow, Scotland, Kashyap had a disappointing outing at World Championship as he crashed out in the first round, losing to Dieter Domke of Germany but the Indian said he has got back his top game again after slogging it out at the court.

"I had a good training session last few days. It was an intense training and now I have to maintain this level through the tournament. I am feeling confident of my game. I really want to win this medal. I want it for my country, for myself," Kashyap told PTI.

"I could not train much before going for World Championship and so my fitness was going up and down during the third game in the first match. I was slow. So I started training the next day and now I feel I have recovered well and playing my top game," said the London Olympics quarterfinalist. 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Kashyap said it is important to add something new in your game and strategies before each opponent.

"It is very important to keep improving your game and adjust according to the opponent you are facing. Nowadays, we play each other so many times that reinventing is very important. So players watch videos of each other in youtube before a match and strategies are made," he explained.

"The draw of the individual event will be out during the team championship. So I will have time to work and improve in the areas where I faltered last time and strategies against my opponent," said Kashyap. India had lost to Korea in Thomas Cup and interestingly the two nations will clash in the opening round of men's team championship in Incheon, and Kashyap said the three singles players will have to take more responsibility.

"It be once again tough match against Korea. We have to pull off the three single matches because they have good doubles pair. We have to take the responsibility on ourself and not put pressure on the doubles.

"Srikanth will again play the first singles as my ranking is low. I think he can beat Wan Ho Son. He has beaten him twice. I will have another tough match against Lee Dong Keun. He is playing well. We also have RMV Gurusaidutt and Sourabh Varma in the team," he said.

Asked what would be his schedule next, Kashyap said: "I will be playing in the European circuit but in December I might take a break. Let's see how it goes." --- PTI