NEW DELHI: The government circular issued on Monday which stated that no passengers from Europe will be allowed into the country from March 18 compelled Oman Open bronze medallist Harmeet Desai to cut short his Germany training plans and return to the country. He reached his hometown of Surat on Tuesday and is currently in self-isolation.
The 26-year-old had initially planned to go to train at his club Ochsenhausen TTF. But the club sent an advisory to all its players regarding shutting down its facilities till the end of this month, which meant no practice. Coupled with the Indian government’s advisory, the Arjuna award winner decided to return home.
“I actually had two tickets, one to Germany and one to India. My parents were constantly calling and asking me to come back. But I had not decided as I was focussed on the competition. Once my club decided to postpone training, I decided to return home. It was just in the nick of time as well,” a relieved Harmeet told this daily.
The last 30 days saw the Commonwealth Championship gold medallist travel to Qatar, Germany as well as Oman. It took a lot of mental toughness to play on despite the COVID-19 scare and his phone calls from home. The bronze medal somehow made up for it. “These are tough times for everybody. The Qatar and Oman Open were different from what a paddler usually encounters. The usual atmosphere was lacking. Even training in Germany was radically different. Fear and panic were the only constants among the players over the last month and all the mental training that I had done over the past year helped me stay focussed. I’m glad that I could return with a World Tour medal.” This was his second World Tour medal in the last six months after winning gold in the Indonesia Open in November last year.
During training in Germany, most European players did not attend practice after land borders were sealed but Harmeet gritted it out. He and a few South Americans were the last to leave after the club finally decided to shut shop after the number of deaths in the country increased dramatically. “Saying that I was afraid would be an understatement. But for us athletes, we cannot afford to relax as we need to keep pushing ourselves. Safety protocols were followed which made things different. These are unprecedented times and such steps are necessary to keep everyone safe.
Even the return flight from Oman was full with people discussing how terrible the situation is and it really puts things into perspective. “ A rankings boost is in the offing after his Oman exploits and Harmeet says he wants to rediscover his 2018 form and cross the top-50 barrier this year. “Crossing top-50 will make up for missing out on Olympic team qualification. I feel good about myself, both mentally and physically. But for now, I plan to spend time with my family after the tension that I put them through and keep working on my physical and mental fitness,” he signed off.