The spike in Covid-19 cases in the city has hit different sectors, with sporting activities not being spared either. In the last few days, the city has witnessed a huge spike in cases daily, resulting in Karnataka Badminton Association (KBA) deciding to bring their shutters down from Thursday. It also means that the KBA academy, which resumed on-court operations in late May, has once again started their online session for their players, who underwent a similar process during the lockdown period from the end of March.
The online sessions, which are conducted over Zoom by coach Anup Sridhar, focus mainly on maintaining the fitness of their players, including India players Ajay Jayaram and Tanvi Lad. It has been divided into three categories – cardio, strength and interval sessions for their 40-odd shuttlers.
When the academy operations re-started in May, Sridhar had drawn plans to help players, who were returning to the court after a halt of around two months, attain match fitness. However, with things going online temporarily once again, it is a different ball game altogether, which will delay his plans a bit more.
“Obviously, it becomes extremely difficult. But we can’t do anything about it. We just have to accept it and move on. There is no point in feeling bad about it or anything else,” Sridhar told CE, while adding that they have done their best under the circumstances. “But we know that the work that we have put in the last few weeks (on the court) since we started training will not go waste. We have to wait and see. There is still more work left to get into top fitness. There is no getting away from that.”
At present, online classes are held for one hour for six days, but Sridhar is working on a strategy to have players spend more time online. Starting Monday, there could be nine sessions per week, instead of their existing six. As per the original plan, KBA is closed for 10 days, but the re-opening also depends on the situation in the city, confirmed KBA secretary P Rajesh. The coach, who is aware about it, also expressed his helplessness in the present situation. “It depends on how long this goes for. If KBA being closed goes on for one week or more than that also, we cannot do anything. Due to the current situation, it is what it is,” said Sridhar.