Look To Be In Best Shape For Tournaments In 2018: Kidambi Srikanth

Newly-crowned Denmark Open champion Kidambi Srikanth says he would be cutting down on the number of tournaments he competes in to be in best shape for the marquee events lined up next year. "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," said Srikanth, who outclassed 37-year-old Lee Hyun II in a lop-sided final to clinch the Denmark Open title last night (Sunday).

"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," he said.

Srikanth capped an impressive week with a 21-10 21-5 win over Lee in the finals.

"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," Srikanth said.

"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," said Srikanth, who has clinched the Indonesia Super Series Premier and Australia Super Series this year.

Srikanth, who won the 2014 China Open Super Series Premier and 2015 India Open Super Series, said he would look to finish the year on a high.

"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."

Asked about the Dubai Super Series Final in December, Srikanth said, "It is an important event. After China and Hong Kong, I will think about Dubai Super Series Final.

"I reached semis in 2014 and in 2015, I lost in the league stages but it doesn't matter. We, as players, have to forget what had happened and start afresh. So I don't want to think about what happened in 2015," he added.

The 25-year-old from Guntur also revealed that he will be announcing a few deals in the coming months.

"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.