Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu is still “a bit scared” to play.
After injuring his back during the CCI International squash Open in Mumbai this January, the 30-year-old is back in action, eager to make a mark in the second leg of the HCL-SRFI Indian Tour (PSA) tournament beginning at the Indian Squash Academy here on October 13.
During the early stages of his injury, Harinder found it tough to do even basic stuff. “I couldn’t even bend and touch my knees,” Harinder told The Hindu on Friday.
Though scarred, Harinder is doing his best to erase the bad memories and looking ahead to better times.
In the Chennai event, Harinder is hopeful of putting up a good show. “[At] the back of my mind I would love to win, that’s the main goal. It depends on how [my] mind wins over matter,” said Harinder, who has two World Tour titles.
Having a pegged world-ranking (or injury-protected ranking) of 95, Harinder will take on Iranian Sajad Zareian Jahromi on Sunday.
Rehabilitation
Harinder’s rehabilitation was done in two phases at Mohali and Chennai. For the first three months (January to March), he was at the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre before switching extensively to strength-conditioning at Primal Patterns, run by former Indian cricket fitness trainer Shankar Basu.
“Dr. Digbal Ranawat and Rohit [Kalyan] at Mohali worked very hard in getting me pain-free first, and then getting my posture right. After that, I came back to Chennai. Since then, I have been working at Primal Patterns and they made me match-fit,” said Harinder, who was part of the Indian team which won the men’s gold in the 2014 Asian Games.
At the start of the season, Harinder was optimistic of getting into the top-30 in the world. His career-best has been 47 which he achieved in April 2018.
“Even now, I am a bit scared to play. The pain was so severe [then]. I was training really hard and I was hoping that this season would be the best I’ve ever had,” he recalled.
The 30-year-old is eyeing the next Asian Games and Commonwealth Games before considering hanging up his racquet.
“It is going to be very tough. [But] If I stay physically fit and mentally motivated, I may even reach the top-30. It is just that I have to keep playing and keep pushing myself,” he said.
