Hyderabad Gymnast Aruna braces for hectic 2022

Hyderabad: Gymnast Budda Aruna Reddy’s dream of representing India in the Olympics came crashing down when she suffered an ACL injury on her right leg in the World Cup, Germany, in November 2018. She knew it would take a long time to return to her best. Six months later after undergoing a surgery, Aruna returned […]

Hyderabad: Gymnast Budda Aruna Reddy’s dream of representing India in the Olympics came crashing down when she suffered an ACL injury on her right leg in the World Cup, Germany, in November 2018. She knew it would take a long time to return to her best.

Six months later after undergoing a surgery, Aruna returned to the mat in a bid to give another shot at the Olympics. After a good performance at Indian trials, she returned to Germany, this time for the final Olympic qualifying tournament – World Championship.
However, the 25-year-old Hyderabadi suffered another injury on the same leg that eventually ruled her out of Olympic contention. But the gritty Aruna didn’t lose heart. She underwent a second surgery in November 2019. But this time, she had time on her hand. Making a full recovery after completing a two-year rehabilitation programme, she bounced back in style winning two gold medals in the Pharaohs Cup international artistic tournament, in Cairo.

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On her comeback, Aruna, who returned to the city recently, said, “After the two-year gap, I played in the World Championships in October in Japan and I reached the final there. That performance boosted my confidence. I went into the tournament in Cairo with an aim to win gold. I won two golds – one in vault and another in floor event. I am very happy. I feel more confident and motivated now.”
But how did she manage to stay positive during the long two-year period? “In a way the Covid-19 period helped me. These two years, I was not worried about missing competitions since there were no tournaments. I focused only on my rehabilitation and getting back to full strength.”

On missing the Olympics, she said, “I was disappointed. In gymnastics, these kinds of injuries do happen and it was unfortunate. When I was injured the first time, doctors said it would take two years for recovery. But I wanted to give another try for the Olympics, so I took a risk. But it resulted in another injury.”
“Once the Tokyo Olympics were out of my reach, I wanted to focus on my rehabilitation. Pandemic or not, we have decided to give time to recover. I never lost hope nor felt frustrated. I was focused,” she explained.

Now, Aruna is bracing for a hectic 2022. With Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cups which are Olympic qualification events lined up, she is determined to book the ticket to the Paris Games.

“The World Cups start in March, 2022. They serve as Olympic qualifiers for the Paris Games. Then we have CWG and Asian Games. The recent result is a big boost for these major events. My target is to win medals at these events. Hopefully, I create another history next year,” singed off Aruna, who created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to win a medal at the Gymnastics World Cup with a bronze in 2018 in Melbourne.

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