ADITI MUTATKAR – Writing comes to Aditi’s aid

Aditi Mutatkar has probably been the unluckiest badminton player in India. A troublesome knee has caused two long layoffs, and each time she has had to work hard to get back to peak fitness.

By Dev S. Sukumar. Photo : Badmintonphoto.com

Aditi’s blog is a ramble about her on-court and off-court life, and although she gives little thought to punctuation, it is a fairly interesting read. The Puneite is a voracious reader, and the only one in the Indian team who has a regard for serious literature.

One of her posts is a detailed recap of her ACL injury that she suffered in 2005 during a camp. The injury needed surgery and painful post-operative therapy. Aditi managed to stick it out and returned stronger than before. “Personally for me, this was the best rehab I’ve done,” she says, of recuperating from her latest injury. “More than the physical part, I had to talk to myself, because there were a lot of issues mentally. The last season was negative, I was taking too many opinions and getting confused. This time I decided to stick to my plan. I have too much experience with injury now.”

Hoping for better times

Thailand badminton has been in a spot of bother for a while now. Boonsak Ponsana, the gifted world no.8, led a rebellion against the national association over sponsorship issues before the Thomas Cup preliminaries in February. The team is divided between those who stayed with the association, and those who chose to turn professional.

The ongoing political unrest in Thailand has made the team nervous. Boonsak’s coach Udom C, who was a contemporary of Syed Modi, admitted that the situation was worrisome. “It’s very hard to say what will happen,” he said. “I’m worried about the country.” Udom was reluctant to admit that the tension had affected his players’ morale, but the issue seemed to weigh heavily on his mind.