I have the potential to win gold at CWG: Kashyap

Promising Indian shuttler P Kashyap believes he has the potential to win the gold medal in next year's Commonwealth Games but said it would be tough and would require a lot of hard work and training to achieve the feat.

Kashyap said he has evolved as a better player this year and feels he has the self-belief to beat any shuttler in the world.

"The competition is more in men's singles in Commonwealth Games. If I can work on my game and fitness and improve my ranking, I can qualify fot the event. I feel I can win a gold in the Commonwealth Games next year," a confident Kashyap told reporters.

Kashyap said he has to work on his concentration and scheduling of tournaments and training sessions to be in the game's elite league.

"In many matches I lost my concentration and focus in the dying moments. This is the difference between me at the top 32 and the place where I want to be," he said.

"This year, the initial six months were really good. May be I didn't get time to train. In the World Championship I could stretch the number two seed Chinese Chen Jin but I played too many tournaments this year. Scheduling is one part where I have to look into," he added.

"I will play the national tournament and then take 10 days break. Whenever I have trained hard, I have performed well. I believe I have evolved as a player this year and I believe I can beat any player now," he said.

Kashyap said with a number of important tournaments as well as Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in line, next year is very important for his career.

"2010 is an important year for me as we have lot of important tournaments lined up in India. The Indian Open, Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. So I will select some tournaments and look to perform well," the shuttler from Andhra Pradesh said.

"My fitness has been always right. I am feeling better now. But since I am an asthmatic, I have to do a lot of breathing excercises to keep myself fit. I tend to lose focus at times in the match when there is dust in the court or my nose gets blocked," he said.

Kashyap was introduced to the game by none other than national coach Pullela Gopichand at 12 and till the age of 17, he did not relaise that he was suffering from asthma.

"Asthma hinders my performace. With humidity, dust and weather, the problem starts, so I have to resort to medicines everyday. I feel that is why my fitness is not always 100 per cent and subsequently my peformance also suffers," he said.

Kashyap also brushed aside any plans to play or train with some overseas clubs.

"Right now I'm not thinking of playing for any foreign club because even now I am not getting time to train as I'm playing so many tournaments for Commonwealth Games' preparation," Kashyap said.