Another badminton-related injury....

But this one is not inflicted on me; rather I inflicted it onto my fellow player.

In the past year, I had my fair share of badminton-related injuries. I was hit by my regular doubles partner at that time with a broken badminton racquet as we both went for the same shot and it left me with some scars. There have been numerous times when I was hit by shuttlecocks; one hit me right on my eye, which prevented me from wearing contact lenses for more than a week. I even got hit by a flying badminton racquet as I sat on the courtside. The racquet flew off from the grip of the player and the flying racquet hit me on my head. Luckily no visible injury; though I was swearing under the breath as the player apologised profusely. Some people said that I was a magnet to badminton-related injuries and sometimes I think they were right!

Anyway, this evening I was playing with Fiqi when one of our opponents returned this shot, which could be described as 'half-court ball' or 'bola tanggung'. So we both went for it and as I swung my racquet, I heard a bang as our racquets collided. My first instinct was to check my racquet, so I was glad that it was alright. Only when we restarted the game, my doubles partner whispered that I had hit his thumb. Sure enough, when he showed me his thumb, it had turned red and swollen. Its size was twice that the other thumb. After the game, he got some cold drinks and used it to reduce the swelling. We continued to play and even had a few more games after that.


The injury proved it again that communication while playing doubles is really important. Badminton is not a sport for sissies; dangers are lurking everywhere. A swing of the racquet could leave a nasty mark or bruise on your body and can even cause serious injury. So if your doubles partner is one who always go for the ball, moves around too much or swings the racquet as if it is a baseball bat, my advice is to get out of his way and let him play single! One could fall awkwardly while playing and I have heard that some people snapped their achilles tendons. I hope the injury that Fiqi got is not too serious. I hope that the thumb get better before the Company's Badminton Tournament to be held at the end of the month.

So Fiqi, I am really sorry about that.....