‘I might be a little hard to beat’

Since Anup Sridhar taped up his right leg, took a cortisone shot, shut out the pain emanating from ruptured ligaments of his right ankle and played the Beijing Games, he didn’t step on a badminton court till a week ago.

He spent a good part of the last five months doing strengthening exercises, using a stability board, cycling, swimming and undergoing a six-week rehabilitation programme. “I was told that taking the cortisone injections would mean temporary relief but the flipside was that complete recovery after the Olympics would take a bit longer. I was not able to play as well as I liked in Beijing. Part of it was because of the ankle injury and another reason was that I could not train properly for 10 days before the Games. I sort of did what I could and I have no regrets about taking the cortisone,” Sridhar told DNA on Monday.

Over the past week, Sridhar has started hitting shuttles at the Tata Padukone Academy. He then heads into two competitive events in early January, the Malaysian Super Series and the Korean Super Series.

“I don’t want to attach too much weightage to the first couple of events. It is going to be very hard. I am coming back after almost five months. I have no particular goal in mind. I can only give you an accurate expectation after this tour… in a month or so from now. I am not too bad right now. My condition is lot better than what I thought it would be. I might be a little bit hard to beat,” Sridhar added with a smile.

He is coming off his longest break in his career. “Not being able to play was very difficult. I am used to travelling every second week. The longest break I had before this was barely a week or 10 days. But when you don’t have a choice, you don’t have a choice,” Sridhar said.

What kept him occupied was the renovation of the flat he bought in a prime locality in Bangalore. Sridhar also ensured that he maintained his fitness, though he could play the game, and that has allowed him to quickly get back into the groove.

The injury was taking longer to heal than expected. “Everybody was telling me it wasn’t a serious injury but it wasn’t healing either. So I was wondering what was going to happen.”

Sridhar then consulted an expert in Mumbai, who put him on the six-week programme and the improvement is evident. During the final stage of the rehabilitation of his right ankle, he consulted the physio at the National Cricket Academy.

Having been given a clean chit, he can focus on performance now. Always considered among India’s best, Sridhar’s highest ranking has only been 24, achieved in March this year. He is also yet to win a major title.

“I have had a lot of chances but I have not really taken them. I have not been good at taking my chances. I have had an alright sort of career. I am not someone who suddenly burst on to the scene and went on to become No.1 immediately. I would love to be like that but I am not. I seem to be more of the kind who takes one step at a time.
Hopefully, that means when I get to the top I will stay there much longer.”