Playing in his first Olympic Games, India’s star badminton player H.S Prannoy says he made a patchy start but recovered well in time to win his opening match in the men’s singles group stage in the Olympic Games on Sunday. In a late match, Prannoy defeated Fabian Roth of Germany 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) in a Group K match. Prannoy has Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat as the third player in their group and needs to top the standings to make it to the quarterfinals.

Prannoy said it felt great to win the first match. He said he was a little patchy at the start but recovered well. As the atmosphere in the stadium is electric, it is not easy to get into tournament mode coming in after a gap.

“When you’re on the winning side of it, I think it feels great. Yes, I started a little patchy and the first set was a little loose. And I think the atmosphere is electric out there. So, to kind of suddenly get into that tournament mode is not easy. And I think I’ve seen a lot of players a little bit struggling out there in the first matches. Happy that I could fight through that first game and win in straight (games).

Facing a defensive player, Prannoy decided to open up play and the tactical switch and things changed in his favour.

“Well, I think the adjustments was to understand what kind of game to play. Probably it was a mix and match. Sometimes I was attacking, sometimes I was in defensive mode. But I really understood that he wanted to get a hold of the net really quickly and probably he was finding it until 16 points.

“Suddenly when I started to open up the game, then things started to change little bit more, a little bit more of longer rallies towards the end of the first game made things easier for me. I would say the fact that I was finding the length from that side.

“So, yeah, that gave a lot of confidence, and I knew that the second game I should be in control because I think a lot of nerves went off after that first game and I could feel that relaxed space, especially in the second game,” Prannoy said after the match.

Asked how he managed his nerves playing in the Olympics and whether he found as every bit as he had imagined, Prannoy said handling pressure is the key in such events.

“It was probably not perfect conditions; I would say the perfect place to play badminton. I would say out there with the entire stadium being packed and a lot of supporters out there coming from India and supporting you, I think it’s a perfect place to kind of play an Olympics out there.

“So, I think the nerves are going to be there no matter who you are, it’s just going to be out there. But it’s how much you are able to come back to the present and understand what’s happening, (players who feel) and what the situation is, I think those players are going to win out there. If you are getting carried away with that pressure thing, then I think you’ll never come out of it,” he added.

Prannoy next has to beat Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat in his next match to top the three-player group and secure a place in the quarterfinals. Things will get interesting after that.