Considering his career has been perpetually clouded by injury, it's remarkable how HS Prannoy can still be bothered to see the silver lining in it all. "The one good thing about me coming back from injury is that I always tend to do well after a comeback," he jokes.
Prannoy, who is supported by GoSports Foundation, can back up this belief if he wants. He has attained the status of India's second best men's singles player despite suffering injuries every year since he first broke out with a silver medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics. He enjoyed his best season on the professional circuit last year, reaching two Superseries semifinals and winning a GP Gold after a layoff caused by a knee injury.
Prannoy got the unwanted opportunity to test out his pet theory this week, too. The 25-year-old was competing in the opening round of the Indonesia Open after a two-month break as he had suffered a inflammation in his ankle joint at the Badminton Asian Championships earlier this year. And at Jakarta's Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Prannoy once again defied the odds by upsetting double Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan 21-19, 9-21, 21-14 for just the second time in his career.
It was a brutal hour-long match which left Prannoy physically exhausted at the end. The hardest physical aspect to maintain at the end of any extended break, as Prannoy will accept, is stamina.
"I've had no special training for this tournament because the layoff was for two months and I hardly got two weeks to prepare for this tournament. What I could do was focus on the basic strength and conditioning for the last 15 days," he says.
If Prannoy had a lot of time on his hands, he says he used it to analyse where he could improve. One variable was the decisiveness in winning crucial points. It was a weakness he first noticed at the Commonwealth Games when he lost out on a maiden singles bronze medal despite holding a couple of match points in the medal round.
"That taught me so many new things. I have been applying these things in practice sessions and in subsequent matches. There were a couple of situations that I faced in the CWG that I faced in yesterday's match where I had to step up and take those risks. Especially in the third game. That helped me."
At 9-8 in favour of Prannoy in the decider against Lin Dan, the match had been evenly poised, and the Indian feels it was perhaps his hunger that gave him the win.
"After each injury, it's really tough to come back and play at this level once again. There are a lot of doubts and confusions on yourself but I think one good thing about being injured is that you are more hungry than the other players because you want it more."
But any 'advantage' in making a comeback pales in comparison to all the struggles faced during a layoff.
" It's always hard when you have to return. There are so many restrictions on how you can train. I've always done well after each injury but it's tough every time because there are so many things you need to do all over again after each injury. I'm just glad to be playing at the big level once again."