Kashyap shifts base to Bangalore for two months
NEW DELHI: Recovering from a knee injury, P Kashyap has shifted his base to Bangalore for a couple of months to train under coach Tom John and get back to his best for the upcoming tournaments in Indonesia, Japan and Korea.
“It has been a difficult time for me since I injured my knee in the run up to the Olympics. It was disappointing to miss out on Rio. So I thought I should do something different to get back to shape,” Kashyap said.
“So I came down to Bangalore and have been training here under Tom John in his academy. I wanted to train with Deckline Leitao at Bangalore and that was the main reason of coming here. I will go back to Hyderabad after a few tournaments next month.”
The first Indian male shuttler to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals at the London Olympics, Kashyap was set to qualify for Rio before a knee injury at German Open in March crushed his dreams.
As a result of the injury, the 29-year-old pulled out of Malaysia Super Series Premier and Singapore Open and has not played since then.
“I had injured my medial collateral ligament in right leg and had to go under the knife. What followed was a long rehabilitation process. I wanted a change in atmo-
sphere, so I decided to shift to Bangalore for some time,” said the Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Once a World No.8, Kashyap had a series of injuries since last year. He suffered a calf muscle tear in October and then sustained an abdominal strain and failed to defend his Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist also skipped the South Asian Games in Guwahati to recover and be fit to pursue his Olympic dream. But after being back to the court at the German Open, he injured his knee. “I am playing Indonesia Grand Prix Gold. And I have sent my entry for Japan and Korea Open. I am trying to get the visas and sort my bookings.”
Saina had split with Pullela Gopichand in 2014, after which she has been training with Vimal Kumar in Bangalore.