Naveen Sivakumar (Pic credit: Badminton Photo)
On Friday, Naveen did not have to break much sweat in his 21-9, 21-17 win over the Indonesian. One good thing is that I strengthened my basics by playing with them and that is one of the reasons why I am doing well now,” Naveen, who also won bronze in men’s doubles, said.
There was not much pressure, as none of the players in the competition were new to me,” Naveen, a mechanical engineering graduate, told TOI. “I trained for the last two to three months by analysing my opponents. Setiawan and I have faced each other multiple times, and I knew his gameplay. “It was very tough to play with able-bodied players when I was young. I would often lose badly and reaching the pre-quarterfinals was very difficult.
A fan of Lin Dan, Naveen would sit with his coach to watch the Chinese legend’s matches and learn about him. “I want to be a player like him. One quality I admire about him is that his mindset and patience are different from those of other players. He does not get under pressure easily, and even when matches go down to the wire, he is on the winning side most of the time.”