Mahoor Shahzad returns to courts after ankle injury

Karachi: Pakistan’s top badminton star, Mahoor Shahzad, has resumed training after recovering from an ankle injury that forced her to pull out from Algeria Open last week.

Mahoor had suffered from the injury during her training sessions in Denmark ahead of the Algeria Open badminton.

Although she has yet to fully recover, the badminton star says it is important for her to remain in practice as she is aiming to participate in three international tournaments next month.

"I had an ankle twist while I was training in Denmark, so my physiotherapist over there strictly recommended me to avoid training for some days, following which I decided to return to Pakistan," Mahoor told The News.

"Today was my first day in court after one week's rest, so it felt good to be back. I was able to do short movements in court today but my ankle started to hurt afterwards. I hope to recover from the injury soon so that I can move freely," she added.

She added that the injury forced her to withdraw from the Algeria International 2019 where she could have earned good points and improve her ranking.

"I had to miss two weeks of my training in Denmark because of this injury. In badminton, you have to practice regularly to maintain fitness, skills and technique. Since I have been down since the last week, I need to work hard to be back in form," she said. 

"Instead of learning something new or improving it, I will have to spend time getting back in form. It simply means that I have come one step down the ladder instead of moving forward."

Mahoor is now aiming to prepare herself for three international tournaments next month starting from Pakistan International Series 2019 which will be held in Islamabad from November 7 to 11.

“After the Pakistan International Series 2019 in November, I am planning to play Botswana International 2019 in November, then Zambia International 2019 in the end of November and start of December, SAF Games in December, and finally the Turkey Open 2019 in the end of December which will mark my last tournament for the year 2019,” Mahoor mentioned.

Like many Pakistani athletes, Mahoor has also been aiming to earn a place in next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“I need to improve my speed and make my shots accurate for which I will work on once I recover from my injury. Besides, this I also need to play many international tournaments and do well in them to improve my world ranking,” said the 23 year old Badminton player.