Parupalli Kashyap's quarterfinal feat at the 2012 London Olympics changed the momentum of Indian men's singles, said rising shuttler RMV Gurusaidutt, who wants to break into the top-15 this year.
Kashyap had become the first Indian men badminton player to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics in London last year and Guru said his performance instilled self-belief among his fellow shuttlers to do well at the international level.
"Men singles have always been in the limelight for Prakash (Padukone) sir and Gopi (Pullela Gopichand) sir and seniors like Arvind, Chetan and Anup. But suddenly there was a gap and no one was in the top 20. But I think it was Kashyap's performance at London Olympics that changed everything," Guru told PTI.
"It raised the bar. We have seen Kashyap train and have played against him at the academy. He has done something great at the Olympics. So I also started believing in myself and gradually one has become two and two has become four. So it was his performance that has changed the momentum of Indian men's singles.
"It was sad that he could not win a medal at the world championship. It would have further inspired all of us to do well. But I can say that all are equal now in men's singles," added Guru, who had reached his career-best ranking of top 20 last month.
The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist said the the presence of more and more talented players in the academy have made their practice sessions intense, which has resulted in better performances.
"It helps a lot to play against different players in the academy. Earlier, I used to play Kashyap and Sai Praneeth, so it was 2-3 players but now we have seven or eight different players at the centre. So the intensity is also high at the practice. It is giving us more results in the men's singles."
The 23-year-old said he was working on his strength and hoped to break into the top 15 by year end.
