Bharadwaj's second coming

Bouncing back from a career-threatening injury is never easy for sportspersons but in the case of Rahul Bharadwaj, life has been a lot kinder.

In April 2015, Bharadwaj suffered a blow to his right knee and that put him out of action for a lengthy duration and could have cut short his, at that point, nascent career.

What was worse is that doctors were having difficulty in diagnosing the exact problem.

“I was out of the game for about a year and a half. Had an issue with my right knee and none of the doctors could diagnose what was wrong despite getting MRIs of my hip and knee,” said the 17-year-old.

Avoiding surgery, Bharadwaj made a comeback after a prolonged period of bed rest.“The doctors advised me to undergo surgery but I chose not to. I was then asked to take bed rest for six months and recovered to start playing again in the second half of 2016.”

The Bengaluru lad hardly showed any sign of the injury hampering him as he strolled to victory in the 16th Union Bank all-India junior ranking badminton tournament held at the Karnataka Badminton Association in June. He then enjoyed a fine run at the Yonex Sunrise India Junior International Grand Prix, before faltering at the final hurdle going down 16-21, 11-21 to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who recently displaced Lakshya Sen at the helm of the junior rankings.

Incidently, Bharadwaj trains with Lakshya at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) and revealed that his counterpart’s rise has been motivational. “We were playing at the same level and then he excelled and moved up quickly. It surely is a motivation for all of us to reach that level.”

Crediting stamina as his best attribute, Bharadwaj said he has been concentrating on his attacking game in the junior camp at KBA, ahead of the Junior World Championships in Indonesia from October 9.

“My stamina helps me stretch games and dig deep. I’ve been concentrating a lot on my attacking strokes and strength in general. If I can work on these two aspects, my game will definitely move up a level,” quipped the junior World No 120.