He is one of the most improved players in world badminton. Kidambi Srikanth's phoenix like rise from world No 44 a year back to No.4 is something of a fairytale. Hard work and self belief have been the corner stones of his game. His highpoint was the great win over Lin Dan in the final of the China Open last year.

The 21-year-old lanky shuttler from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district is seen as a serious contender for a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. "'The Rio Olympics are just a year away and I (have) set my sight on a medal. The Olympics are very special and to win a medal in this meet is my cherished dream," said Srikanth.

He feels that he has to be more consistent in order to win a medal. "I am doing well at the international level right now. But then I realize that to win a medal at the Olympics I will have to be more consistent. And I working very hard to achieve it," he said.

He is also targeting the World No.1 ranking, "One has to be the very best to be ranked No.1. My coach Gopi Chand has been stressing upon the need for me to aim to become No.1 . Game wise I think I am pretty close. It's just that I have to win a major title and the rest will follow," said Srikanth.

When queried on his title win at the Swiss Open a couple of weeks back, Srikanth said the final against Viktor Axelsson was a very tough match.

"It was a difficult match but I didn't think anything like playing defending champion. I only played it as a final in which I wanted to win. In the second game it was like I did few simple mistakes and gave away the lead, which I shouldn't have done, but in third I started playing little more aggressively and it worked for me," he added.

Asked about his targets this year, Srikanth said: "By training I want to improve in every aspect of my game and keep winning as many matches and tournaments. Winning a World Championship medal is something I want this year but still winning any tournament gives you confidence. I want to improve my ranking and becoming number one is a dream," he added.

Once a doubles player, Srikanth developed a lot of variation in his strokes, including the backhand tosses, deep smashes and deceptive cross court net play, which helped him dominate over his opponents. "I have realised that if one has to be a world beater it is not enough to have a powerful smash. The variations are so important. That's why I have developed quite a few variations in my game. The element of surprise has to be there," he said.