Parupalli Kashyap’s mantra on the comeback trail has been to train smarter and not just harder

During a short chat after finishing runners-up in the US Grand Prix Gold in Anaheim on Monday, Parupalli Kashyap pointed out more than a couple of times that he isn’t a “23-24 year old anymore” and can’t train or work the way the other youngsters do.

No, don’t jump to the conclusion that the 30-year-old is simply building a case to slow down or hang up his boots soon. In fact, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist is planning exactly the opposite and the long injury breaks have only taught him the importance of training smarter, rather than just harder, if he has to play at the same level well into his mid-30s.

A new routine

Kashyap’s tryst with injuries began when he limped out of the French Open with a calf problem in October 2015 and got aggravated further when he twisted his knee during a pre-quarter-final encounter in the German Open against Wan Son Ho in March 2016. It not just put paid to his hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics but also kept him out of action for over five months.

It took him another three months to get back into the rhythm and when he reached the semi-final appearance in the 2016 Korea Masters, it looked like he was ready to challenge the best once again. Only for a shoulder injury during a Premier Badminton League match against HS Prannoy in January this year, ruling him out of action for another three months.

“I just ran out of steam in the third game. I had a very long semifinal (against Kwang Hee Heo) and even in that match I had started to get really tired in the third game. I managed to pull that off but not in the final,” Kashyap told The Field after losing to HS Prannoy in the summit clash in Anaheim.

“Despite the loss, I am just happy that I could reach the final because since making a comeback, I was not really getting a good run of matches since I would lose in the first really tough match I played. But here, I was very happy after beating top seed Lee Hyun Il in the first round and this run was kind of a bonus,” he adds.

Kashyap insists that he was still just at 50-60 per cent of his fitness since the long injury lay-offs in the last one and half year have taken a severe toll of his base fitness and that will take time to rebuild.

One step at a time

“In my whole career, I haven’t missed so many months as I did in the last one and half year. This has affected my overall fitness and now I need to rebuild one step at a time. First managing to play one full match at the highest level, then one week and then a few months and so on. I know I will need 5-6 months to get back to my best and the realistic target is to get into the top-20 by year end.”

The 2012 London Olympics quarterfinalist has been one of India’s most consistent men’s singles players on the international circuit in the past decade but the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth have gone on to win bigger tournaments in the last few years while Kashyap was nursing injuries.

With age catching up, does Kashyap feels the pressure of achieving his often stated aim of winning a Superseries title or some major tournaments outside India?

“Not really, I am not in a hurry. If you look around, players are now playing well even after they cross 30. Lee Chong Wei (world number 2) is already 34 and the guy I beat here in the first round is 37. I also plan to play at this level till 34-35 and hence training right is very important for me.

“In that aspect, I think I need to become my own coach because no one can know my body better than me,” says Kashyap, adding that he has already spoken to chief national coach Pullela Gopichand and Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo for having a different program than the other players.

Intensity over quantity

“When I returned to action, I tried following the regular program and just before the Inter-Petroleum tournament, I suffered a hamstring injury. That’s when I realised that I need to change things. For now, I have reduced the number of hours I train and just increased the intensity of my sessions to ensure that I maintain my speed,” he adds.

The other thing, Kashyap is trying to do is to find time to have more one-on-one sessions with Gopichand. “The Indonesian coaches have a big bunch of players to take care of. Among the others, there are not many coaches who can have a session with a feeding quality of Gopi bhaiya. It is also easy to communicate with him what exactly I want and that really helps.

So I try and train with him whenever he is available, even at 4.30 am in the morning if that is the only time he is free to have a session with me.”

The performance in the US Open has definitely given Kashyap the confidence that he is on the right track. When he can achieve the targets he has in mind would depend on how well he puts all his experience in looking after his injury-battered body and still pushing it to perform at the optimum.