Redemption Tale: Kidambi Srikanth Story Of Guts And Grit

Kidambi Srikanth sealed a history-making BWF World Championships silver medal on Sunday and also received plenty of praise from Pullela Gopichand.

From being at the pinnacle of global rankings to hitting nadir by failing to qualify for the Olympics, K Srikanth has seen it all in a matter of four years. So, it was hardly a surprise that the seasoned shuttler's celebrations seemed muted after the history-making world championships silver. He is not the one to celebrate comebacks. Instead, Srikanth displayed the equanimity that has helped him stay afloat during his struggle with fitness and form. It was India's first ever silver medal in men's singles at the prestigious tournament but there were no fist-pumps or "dream come true" quotes.

All he could gather was "this is something I really worked hard for, and I am really happy to be here today." Chief coach Pullela Gopichand understood what the 28-year-old was going through and was glad that he did not get swayed by the success that has followed months of toiling and heartbreak, the biggest one being the Olympic miss.

"I am happy with the way he reacted, he celebrated this win after the end of his career, now it's time to tie his head down and look for consistency. It is good to be on the positive side ahead of a big year," an impressed Gopichand told PTI.

Even if he had let his hair down a bit, who could have judged him? Because for a while now, the biggest believer in his ability to do something big was Srikanth himself.

Faced with a visa issue, he was not even sure of making it to the tournament, leave alone winning a medal and he was just happy to be competing.