The badminton fraternity heaved a sigh of relief when K. Srikanth, India’s ace shuttler, who was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a corporate hospital was moved to the general ward after a brief illness on Wednesday.
Srikanth, who figures among the world’s top 15, fell unconscious in the washroom of Gopichand Academy at Hyderabad while preparing for the day’s grind a few days ago.
Fellow players, who saw him lying on the floor motionless, drew the attention of the coaches and rushed him to the Jubilee Hills unit of the Apollo Hospitals.
The 21-year-old was kept under observation in ICU for two days.
“He played the Japan and Indonesia Open tournaments recently and doctors felt he might have contracted some viral infection during his stay in the eastern countries,” said K.V.S. Krishna, Srikanth’s father, from Hyderabad.
All is well The news of Srikanth’s sudden ill-health and hospitalisation spread like wildfire and several badminton administrators, players and sports lovers began making frantic enquiries.
“Thanks to the almighty all is well. He will be back on court at the Gopichand Academy very soon,” said Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association secretary K. Ch. Punnaiah Chowdary.
Srikanth is India’s biggest medal hope in the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow (Scotland) and Asian Games at Incheon (Korea).
