Not all answers are to be found in smashes and flicks on a badminton court, so Aditi Mutatkar leafs through books galore. “People keep asking me why I’m always drowned in a book despite being a badminton player, a sportsman, as if the two don’t go together! It’s just my way of dealing with life - I like reading, that’s what inspires me,” said the 22-year-old who is grappling with a dodgy knee, and prefers the written word to the spoken gyaan coming her way from all and sundry, during this testing period of her career. There’s the usual favourite - Lance Armstrong, and also double Olympic medallist Kelly Holmes of Great Britain who shrugged off multiple injuries to run the most memorable races of her life, and then sat down to tell her tale with a flourish.

“It’s sad when injuries happen just when you are doing well. It pulls you down psychologically,” said the World No 31 - and India’s No 2 after Saina Nehwal, maintaining an ultra-positive disposition. “I don’t really have a choice, right?” she added while in town last weekend for the Tata Open. Mutatkar hates making an excuse out of the presently delicate knee, but the crucial body-joint is literally rendering India’s challenge weak at international events as the shuttler struggles to move into the next rung.

A withdrawal, midway through her match during the recent Far East tour was no recurrence of a knee trouble - but her feared demons had returned. “It wasn’t a great outing and I need to get away from the fear. Soon after I came back I spoke to my doctor and coach, and it’s evident that the problem’s in the mind,” said the Pune shuttler candidly. “It’ll take time to be pain-free, but after consulting them I know nothing worse can happen just by playing. I’m less scared now that I know it won’t break!” she added.

... contd.