Q. What did you feel after beating the Indonesian pair, given their past records and depth of talent?
It was quite satisfying because we did not have a good head-to-head record against them. I think the Indonesian players are currently world no 1 and no 2. I am really happy that we could get that win.
Q. In the past, singles specialists would often be thrown together to play doubles, too. What do you make of the depth in India’s doubles division?
I think times have changed. Along with a strong men’s singles team we have a strong men’s doubles team as well. To win such a big team event, you need a balanced side with a good mix of singles and doubles players. I am really happy to be a part of this revolution where doubles players are equally contributing to the team’s win. As far as the depth is concerned, we have quite a few pairs like Dhruv [Kapila] and Arjun [M.R.], Krishna [Prasad Garaga] and Vishnu [Vardhan] and many more. So, there is a lot of good talent coming up.
Q. You and Satwik have, at times, failed to close a match even though you were ahead. You reversed that trend in the final.
In the past few tournaments we have not been able to close our matches, but this time we just kept our calm. I have also been working with the psychologist. After the group stage loss to the Chinese Taipei pair, I sat down and had a conversation with him on how to handle the pressure and to look at things from a brighter perspective. He told me that I needed to just go out there and give my best, and that winning and losing was secondary. And that is what we did. We were ok with extending the rallies instead of giving away points.
Q. What is the role played by coach Mathias Boe? What are the changes that he introduced?
Mathias has been very important. We worked with him last year as well and we knew that we really needed him as his inputs made a huge difference to our game. I am really happy that we can work with him again.
As far as changes are concerned, it is a lot more tactical. We have added a lot of drills to improve our defence.