Yesterday once more

I have been playing badminton for the past four weeks, on every Saturday at Delta Sports Complex. When I'm on the court, I feel like a kid again. I'm enjoying every moment, and my face shows it because I'm smiling all the way regardless of whether I win or lose. The feeling of playing just for the joy of playing, and not having the pressure and stress of winning every point at all cost, is simply divine. I could play for six hours on a badminton court but wouldn't last 15 minutes on the track.

I played competitive badminton from when I was in secondary one all the way to university level. My school days were confined to studying and training. My schedule was court training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and physical+ court training on Saturdays. In between, there would be school competitions as well as overseas competitions.

The places where you would find me would be my home, my school, the badminton courts in my school or at the Singapore Badminton Hall in Guillemard Road or at Delta Sports Complex (yep, I'm back there again).

I led a very regimented and disciplined life - no drinking, no smoking, no late nights and no partying. But I loved it because my coaches and my team-mates were fabulous and I wouldn't have wished it any other way. I always thank God for those times because they helped mould me into the person I am today.

I haven't played badminton since I graduated from university in 1994. Two years ago, I played my first badminton game and I tore my right Achilles tendon there and then. I didn't feel any pain at all but my ankle was swinging freely and kind of detached from the rest of my leg. I put on an ankle guard and my friend quickly drove me to Tan Tock Seng Hospital because that was the nearest hospital.

When we reached the hospital, however, I asked my friend whether we could have some food first because I was hungry. So we had lunch at the Peranakan food place at Novena before going to Tan Tock Seng for treatment. In hospital, I also had to call one of my colleagues to say that I couldn't make it for a play that I was supposed to watch that night, and to ask her to come and collect the tickets from me at the hospital.

I had surgery and was in crutches for three months. My surgeon said that I would have no problems playing badminton again but he added that when he operated on me, my right tendon was in as bad a shape as that of a 60-year-old grandmother. He warned me that my left tendon would go the same way and rupture if I didn't do anything to strengthen it. Obviously my many years of playing competitive badminton have taken a toil on my physical body. My GP, however, said that this was the end of the road for me as well as physically demanding sports was concerned, saying that I should stick to cycling and swimming and avoid tennis, badminton and squash. I took my surgeon at his word.

Four weeks ago, I started playing badminton again. I'm more careful this time around. I warm up quite thoroughly before I start playing and I warm down after the session is over. So far it has been okay but I check my tendons after the end of every session. Today, I slightly twisted my ankle but it should be okay. My strokes are still not fully there, I'm missing the hit zones in terms of accuracy, and my smash is pretty weak because my right shoulder hurts whenever I try a hard smash. But I'm happy because I'm again playing a game that I love a lot. :-)

I'm thankful to God that in my new job, I get to walk quite a bit every day because I've to walk to the bus-stop, walk from the MRT station to my office, walk out for lunch, walk from my office to the MRT station and then from the bus-stop to my home every day. This definitely does help strengthen my legs and my tendons.

I hope that by the end of the year, I would be able to play at the level that I think I should be playing.

It is a nice feeling to be back at Delta Sports Complex and ever so often, I look around at the hall and I think about my coaches and all my team-mates that I had throughout the years, and I pray and hope that wherever they are, they're living life in their own way, in a way they want it to be lived, and that they are happy, contented and loved. Amen.