'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
She was considered the country’s biggest prospect after Saina Nehwal, but an ACL injury put her back by a year. Having fought pain and self-doubt, the Hyderabadi makes a tentative comeback, writes Dev S Sukumar
It’s easy to forget, while watching players move sleekly over court surfaces, what a delicate thing the human body is; how intricately it’s all wired together. One ruptured connection – and it’s all gone. The body fails to function efficiently; what was once pleasure now becomes pain.
Ask Sikki Reddy. The left-hander was considered the country’s brightest prospect since Saina Nehwal, but a sudden injury derailed all of her best-laid plans. Two surgeries followed the ACL injury that happened in March last year, shortly after she’d won her third National Junior title.
What the Indian badminton world saw was Sikki returning to singles play at Bangalore in September. What nobody saw was the tears and agony it took for her to make that journey from the sidelines on to the court.
It was at the Junior Ranking tournament in Nellur in March last year that Sikki twisted her knee. Scans revealed a partial tear, but doctors suggested she continue to play after strengthening exercises. However, a month and a half later, at the Asian Championships, at 7-all in the third game against World Junior champion Ratchanok Inthanon, the knee gave way again. “It was like my leg was being cut off,” recalls Sikki.
Two surgeries followed – one for the ACL, and a second to ensure she could bend her knee. The months of post-surgery rehab, the sleepless nights, tears and pain seem almost too cruel a punishment for someone passionately pursuing badminton glory.
“The surgery happened a week after the injury, in Delhi,” says Sikki. “After a week, I went home. I spent two months on a bed. I used to cry due to the pain. I couldn’t sleep. They used to give me painkillers and sleeping tablets just to get me to sleep. As I had a rod inside, I couldn’t move my leg. I could get sleep only early in the morning, but I had to do rehab during that time.”
“It was bad. I had to undergo surgery twice. The first was for the ACL, where they took a patella graft and replaced my ACL. And then after three months, I needed another surgery because my knee was not For a competitive player, to suddenly give up an active lifestyle and be confined to a bed must have been killing for the spirit. Sikki nods in affirmation. “Rehab took eight months. I was scared. It’s very tough to come back. I was on top, no? I kept thinking I would fall back…. And the young players are getting better all the time. Physio Biplab used to come home. It was a tough time. I pray to god that nobody gets hurt. It’s tougher than training. The injury period is very tough. Even today it hurts. My knee was straight on the bed. Then I started to use crutches, then tried to stand.
“They tried to bend my knee and I used to scream. All the neighbours in the other flats used to come home and wonder what was happening. It was horrible, I used to cry like hell. My parents couldn’t bear to see my cry, they would go outside the home. If I remember those days… my friends at the academy also couldn’t bear to see my cry. It took three months just to bend my knee, and even now I can’t do it fully.”
Once she returned to the Academy to work with physio Kiran, she would sit by and watch while the other players went about their training. She was seized by the fear that she was falling behind, while the others were pulling up. “I was at the academy and I was sitting and watching, and it hurt. I used to cry all the time,” she says. “Gopi sir would come and console me. I used to talk to Aditi (Mutatkar), who had recovered from ACL surgery. We weren’t close earlier, but I started chatting with her on Facebook and took her advice.”
Having begun her tentative steps in getting back, Sikki says she still has her strokes, but she can feel that her movement is different. Doctors have assured her she can get back to singles, but it’s a slow process of strengthening and continuing to fight pain. After losing her fourth round match to Sayali Gokhale at the ongoing National Championships, Sikki says the knee has healed, but her on-court movement is still slow. “The crosscourt movement is a problem,” she says. “I haven’t begun to practice singles yet. I’ve only been training in doubles. Once I start playing singles regularly, the knee should get better.
Asked if she had worries about her career, she says: “I had doubts. Because everyone else is improving, right? Because it’s one year, right? It’s a long time. But if you’re mentally strong, you can do it.”
