You’re 40 now and still raising the bar. Whats the secret?
The secret is the tricolor. You just want to do something for your country. When I look back, I think I was able to do this because of my discipline and passion for the game. There is nothing better than to make our people proud. Here in Birmingham, being able to defend the team means a lot to us. And when you beat a team like Nigeria 3-0, it’s a result of pride because it means you’re improving and on the right track. Except in the final, we haven’t lost a single match and that’s the consistency.
Let us tell you about that match against Quadri Aruna of Nigeria. Perhaps this was the turning point.
Yes, this will go down as one of the best matches I have played. This is no exaggeration. Qadri is a very good player and kept coming back and constantly threatening my lead. Being able to hold him back and take the win means a lot to me and the team. It was an important match and that I was able to win, it gave the team the freedom they needed to close the tie.
You played really well against Ma Long of China in Tokyo. Now you have defeated Qadri Aruna. You seem to be in good shape mentally and physically.
We had prepared very well for the Commonwealth Games and I have trained very hard to get here. You will never see results until you do. It is a matter of great pride for me to play this game. The match against Ma Long was great but I was on the losing side. It was nice to be able to cross the quadri here.
There are still three more medals left. How confident are you about other events?
It is all about preparation and process. I am sure about that. My training, my discipline, my routine. Also Sathiyan is playing very well. Therefore, we have grown as a team. In the next few days, we will try to add more to the first gold medal we have won and we are confident that we will be able to do so.
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