He has starred in a historic Indian conquest of the Thomas Cup, with bronze in a World Championships as well as an Asian Games to show for his efforts in the past two years. And yet, when a highly-motivated 32-year-old HS Prannoy stepped on to a Hyderabad badminton court last week after three dreary months, he was flush with joy, laced with a sense of relief and gratitude that comes with maturity and experience.
We may get a fix on the emotions surging in his mind if we realise he is coming back after dealing with Chikungunya, an illness which brings along much uncertainty. With recourse only to pain and inflammation management and with no treatment, there is no understanding of when one can resume day-to-day activity, let alone high performance sport that demands immense fitness levels of its practitioners.
“You feel happy that there is still an opportunity to play. For, quite a few times in your career, after an injury or after a health issue, you feel that it is probably your last chance,” he said during a telephonic conversation on Wednesday. “Sometimes when the pain is so bad, you think ‘Is my career done?’ These kind of questions come up to your head.”
Prannoy radiates gratitude as has been able to overcome any such questions and gradually return to training. “You realise you should not take things for granted. Small things like walking without any pain is also a blessing at times. I will always be grateful for what I have, though not having any pain is in itself a big blessing,” he said.
Pain Recounted
You would wince when hearing Prannoy describe the pain he felt post the Olympics. “I think the body just broke down, with extremely painful joints. For days, I just was not able to get off on the bed. I was in that bad a situation. And later, I would not be able to do simple tasks such as opening a car door or changing my shirt or carry my own bags from an aircraft because my shoulders would be in such pain,” he said.
“That’s when I really understood realised that it had become worse and its severity, And because I trained and played such a big event perhaps added to it. I’ve never experienced such pain in my life. I understood that this would take some time and I have to back off from what I was doing at that point and focus completely on the recovery side of it,” Prannoy said.
It took longer than he expected. “Over the years, I have learnt to shut down (thoughts about) things that are not in my control. I had to try a lot of things in the last few months to kind of eventually come to a place where I feel a little bit less pain. I am still not 100 per cent, but am able to do normal activities without pain,” Prannoy said.
He contracted Chikungunya in July, a few weeks before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and was admitted in hospital for a few days. “It was really painful as I was not even able to walk. I had to take great care before using medication to address pain and inflammation of my joints. For a few days before competing in Paris, I trained whatever I could,” he said. “I did ask myself why I was even going there.”
Overcoming Olympic disappointment
He had sensed that there was no chance for him in Paris. “I was still hoping for some magic. I won two matches. It was big for me, personally. When I look back, there was definitely big disappointment because I knew that this was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance. But when I reflect – and I spoke with (Coach Gopichand) bhaiyya – I realised I shouldn’t be disappointed that I could not make it to the podium,” he said.
Prannoy, who has never shied from stating that there are way too many tournaments, pointed out that he was not consistently hitting podiums in the Super Series events. “If you did that, you’re in a position to tell yourself that you missed an Olympic podium. Obviously, I was somebody who had the game to be on the podium, but then there are so many players like that who have the game,” he said.
“And so, I told myself that I shouldn’t be sad thinking about what happened. There are a lot of things that are not in your control. I would say I was happy with what I could do in the group stage. But yes, there was an emotional moment a couple of days after my loss (to compatriot Lakshya Sen) because it hit me hard that I probably won’t get such an opportunity again.”
Riding Belief on Comeback Journey
Of course, Prannoy has always wanted to perform well in the Olympics. “The entire country is watching, you know that you won’t get that mileage again. That could always haunt you. But to be honest, I came out of it very quickly because I had faced things like this in the past. The only way to come out of this is to think how you can come back and prove yourself again,” he said, having dealt with Covid-19 virus and an acid reflux problem earlier.
He believes that while pain had been managed, his joints were not ready to take the load. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t give any time off for my body to recover before Paris. Basically you’re not allowed to train for a month or two when something like this happens, but my break lasted a week or so. And that took a big toll on my body. Honestly, the time since I came back from Olympics was horrible,” he said.
For all that, he never doubted that he would come back while there was always some uncertainty about when he could come back. “I had to freeze my ranking (World No. 22), because there was a lot of uncertainty. This was a state of my body where hardly anyone has an answer. We don’t have any medication for Chikungunya and Dengue,” he said. “But my belief that I would be back did not waver.”
The Road Ahead
As he now returns to the grind, he knows he has to start from scratch. “Yes, sometimes you are again starting from the scratch. Let alone training and let alone playing, there are times when I have prayed God to let me be pain free and let me do my day-to-day activities. I was wondering when I would be able to do the little things normally,” he said, adding that it was actually the next level of pain.
“I wanted to return only when I was fit enough. I was not even thinking about ranking or anything else. I just wanted to be in a position where I could train for a good five to six weeks without pain. The last couple of weeks have been very good. When you slowly start training again, you feel you feel things are returning to normal. That feeling is always special. You always love that feeling,” he said.
“To be honest, I have been very motivated to come back, train and play again. I have never being this motivated in my life to play again at the highest level again,” Prannoy said, his voice encapsulating joy, relief and gratitude that the clouds of uncertainty had cleared and he could resume his journey of being among the world’s best.
