The semi-final. I was facing the defending champion from Nigeria, Segun Toriola. I had lost to him in the last two meetings, and I had lost pretty easily.

Did that play on your mind the night before the match?

Yes, it was bothering me at night! Then I told myself, 'If you win tomorrow's match, you can win the gold.'

That's how I pushed myself to get the extra energy.

Did you sleep well?

No, not at all! During the tournaments, none of us (players) get very good sleep. We don't feel hungry either. But we have to take rest. We just close our eyes and remain still.

Sometimes I sleep, but then I tend to get up in between. After that, it is just impossible to sleep again.

So what do you think about?

The game would be running through my mind (laughs)!

I (used to) plan my entire match then. If I cannot get over the match even after an hour, I will get up and go for a walk, jog or do something else to take my mind away from next day's match.

I know I shouldn't get my mind tired. After sometime, I would go back to bed and start thinking about the match again.

But once the match began, did you get your rhythm going perfectly?

Everything went very smoothly once the match started. The semi-final turned out to be my best day. I beat my opponent quite comfortably in the first game.

The second was a bit crucial as I beat him only in extra points. I was down 8-10, and then I levelled at 10-10 and finally beat him 15-13. After that, there was no stopping. I just moved with the rhythm I had.

I played really well, with great ease. I didn't miss a single shot. I felt very nice playing that game. I beat him 4-0.