00:00 Hi Brian, first of all your thoughts on the Olympic qualification, how do you look at
00:04 it because it's your maiden Olympic appearance this time.
00:08 Well, I'm really excited, I think it's something which I've always attempted and
00:14 trying to finally qualify gives I think a lot of relief to be honest and a lot of expectations
00:21 is going to be there in the next few months but I think for me it's going to be really
00:26 good to see how I enjoy this phase of the competition.
00:30 From Tokyo Olympics to Paris Olympics, one pair who has been consistently raising the
00:36 bar for you from the singles to the men's pair is between you, I mean we've seen your
00:41 rise the last few years but if you talk about your performance in the 2020 K, very good
00:50 job, tons of medals at the best of the podiums, how does that performance bode you now when
00:57 you are entering the Paris Olympics mode?
01:00 Well, I think the one thing which I tell myself is to not compare the results each and every
01:06 time actually.
01:07 I think 2023 was almost 6 months back and I think things change, I think the situation
01:14 changes, the match changes, players change, the game style changes so it's really important
01:20 to update yourself with what's happening and to keep doing the changes accordingly and
01:24 I think that's where you keep getting better as a player and I think that's what I've
01:30 been trying to do over the last couple of years where I've not been stuck with any
01:36 kind of training or any kind of situation, I've always been trying to evolve and always
01:41 been trying to be brave enough to make tough decisions.
01:45 So, getting into an Olympic cycle also I think it's really important to work things from
01:52 a fact saying that how well you can play in a bigger stadium, what are the preparations
01:58 which you can do for that and so I think these kind of things are going to be the portion
02:02 of getting better.
02:03 You and Lakshya both have qualified, does that put some pressure on you or the rise
02:10 of Indian badminton overall in the next, because after a long gap two men's singles
02:16 players have qualified, how do you look at it?
02:19 Well, I think it's something which is great for the Indian badminton to have two men's
02:25 singles out there and for me personally I think it would give an extra motivation to
02:30 definitely perform better and somebody like Laksh I think is somebody who always puts
02:37 in that effort to kind of get good results out there and he's always I think is constantly
02:44 on the hunt to get good results.
02:46 So, to have somebody like him for this entire period to have to kind of maybe train together
02:54 also in the next period, so it would definitely give an extra edge to my preparations and
03:00 I think that is definitely going to be a boost for the entire Indian fans as well because
03:04 I have one more player out there who has the chance to kind of be on the podium and give
03:11 India that extra medal as well.
03:14 There's always expectation from Indian shuttlers whenever they enter into the Olympics because
03:18 of what we've seen in the last three Olympics.
03:22 Does that put the shuttlers under pressure or is it an added advantage because the opponents
03:27 are not going to take you guys lightly?
03:31 I think it's always an added extra pressure obviously as I said I think the last 15 years
03:36 I think they've always been able to get a comeback with big medals in bigger events
03:41 say World Championship, Olympics, or Asian Games.
03:43 So, whenever you are going for these kind of games I think the fans expect you to come
03:48 back and we kind of keep getting better in that medal colour as well I think and they
03:55 have always been able to perform also I would say fortunately and I hope that we can kind
04:01 of better our performances in Paris and come back with many more medals.
04:07 If you talk about the men's doubles players, Stratvik and Chirag, they are the world number
04:12 ones and we are expecting something good from them as well because of the rankings and not
04:17 just because of the rankings because they have played some sensational battle in the
04:21 last over a year or so.
04:25 Having such champion players in the contingent, how will it be a psychological boost for the
04:31 rest of the squad?
04:33 Well, I think Stratvik and Chirag has been proving that they are the number one in the
04:38 world with not just the rankings but I think the consistency in performances out there
04:44 and to do that day in day out is not easy, out there in big tournaments is not easy
04:50 and for them I think it's really important to choose the tournaments coming in especially
04:54 in the Olympics and to be physically fit out there because I am sure that if they are physically
04:59 fit out there then I don't see anybody else kind of giving them a fight out there in the
05:06 Olympics but as I said Olympics is a different ball game and it's all on how you kind of
05:13 deal with the pressure and anxiety and I am very very hopeful that they are going to come
05:21 back to the middle and I am hoping that it will be a good as well.
05:26 You yourself have been one of the toughest of opponents to fight, we have seen you battling
05:34 for hours in the game, what is the secret to your resilience on the court?
05:40 I think it's probably the way I was brought up in Singapore, probably the way I have learnt
05:49 how to play badly and things never came easy for me and I had to always fight hard for
05:56 being in a team, sitting in a team or probably being in a podium I think I always had to
06:02 fight for it and I think it never came easy especially when I was young so I knew that
06:08 if I had to do something different I had to be resilient out there and you never know
06:13 when the big results come but it's important to be resilient and I think that's what I
06:19 keep doing and I feel really happy trying to do it.
06:24 Last question, what are your plans going into the Olympics because the word 'peaking'
06:30 becomes talk of the town whenever we have a big event approaches, so how you intend
06:38 to peak at the right time?
06:40 I have no clue how this is done to be honest, the coaches and the support staff probably
06:45 might know it much better but for me the only thing in mind is to obviously get a few consistent
06:52 performances in the next coming months to make sure that you are in a good frame of
06:57 mind getting into Paris and there is a lot of match under your belt yet before you head
07:02 to Paris so that you know the situation much better and you are in a situation to fight
07:09 mentally and physically.
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