The swift retrieving and agile mind displayed on court gave no indication of the anxiety inside Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu’s mind. Like draping a veil over a torn fabric, the Indian buzzed around the court at the Willingdon Sports Club (WSC), as if on wheels.
“There are things on court I cannot do. I won’t tell,” quipped a smiling champion, soaking in the winning feeling after the 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 verdict at the PSA Challenger Tour event.
Ready to fight for every point at the HCL SRFI Indian Squash Tour’s third leg, he brushed aside the 120-ranked Tomotaka Endo in three games for the men’s open title.
The powerful Japanese may have known about the fitness issues dogging his rival for over a year, may have planned to take advantage of Harinder, supposedly tentative about the load on his body in the rehabilitation phase, following the back injury.
He became familiar with medical terms like disk bulges, nerve impingements, scoliosis. The champion got sharper with each winner, celebrating each point won like an escape from a road to hell and back. The Indians has been advised “do’s and don’ts” by the sports medicine experts, he did the do’s smartly enough to walk away an easy winner.
For those watching through the glass back at the WSC, applauding the strokes and angles deployed with deadly effect and his mobility on court and whiplash shots, life was a dark tunnel for Harinder this time in 2018 and afterwards.
“I have to give 200% in every match to move ahead. I have not fully recovered,” he said and added: “2019 was very painful, very depressing after getting injured last December. The thought that I may not be able to play again. It took three months to get free from the pain. Squash was not even in my mind, I just wanted to be well, be usual again.”
Harinder won four matches enroute to a coveted title, triumphing Czech Republic’s Ondrej Uherka in a match stretching almost one hour.
“This whole week was tough, I was not playing upto my mark. I told myself to hang in there till the match turns in my favour, because I am playing in my home country and even when you are not doing well, there is a lot of crowd support.”
He credits the experts at the Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre and Primal Patterns (specialists in peak performance fitness training) for recovery.
“They helped me re-educate my body, how to lift things, how to bend properly. My body was not the same it was for so many years, so I went through a full re-education. I took it day by day, week by week.”
The Indian Squash Academy welcomed his return to the court after rehabilitation and motivated him.
New Year resolutions include lasting the course in two tournaments early in 2020, for a pro with a career high 47 ranking in 2018.
“I hope my body holds and I will be able to carry this form in the Jaipur leg of HCL SRFI Indian Tour in January and the Senior Nationals in February.”
With trophy in hand, the ready smile takes over, covering up whatever he went through just to get back on to a squash court.
