Agreed. I'm no expert, but from everything I've learnt about injuries such as this, the special rehab in an intensive clinic (such as the one in Germany) cannot really last more than 3 months. Continuing rehab, physiotherapy and close monitoring of the recuperative process (includes periodic scans, MRIs, stress tests etc) must continue according to a strict plan for a star international sports pro like her. And again, from everything I know and have been personally told, this period can extend anywhere from 6 months to up to 2 years, depending on various factors. It is during this second phase that any decisions can be taken about putting her back on active training, again with strict monitoring. Not competitive action - just active training in a controlled environment. So, the second phase is more critical in terms of long-term impact. Evidently something went wrong there, or someone gave the wrong signal....
The wider perspective: But to another disturbing issue that needs to be looked into in WS: too many serious knee injuries to too many players, too soon. Time was, the best players could be on the circuit for a half-dozen years (at least!) without any career-threatening/ending injuries. And their level of play was not really inferior from those today, considering the technology, quality of shoes, types of racquets etc. Apart from that, the only real qualitative difference I can see, is the type of training and the physical regimen. Have techniques become too demanding, then? But when you keep on trying to ratchet up the performance of an engine beyond acceptable stress loads, something's gotta give. And please! it's not to do with the number of tournaments played. Those girls of 5, 10, 20 years ago played about as many per year, give or take. Of course, they didn't have the new leagues and regional cups, back then...
My Mandarin isn't too good either but let me try until somebody better is willing to do it: The German hospital that operated on Wang Lin told her she could return to competition after six months which made her felt optimistic. But she has overlooked one point,this hospital previously concentrated on treating soccer, ice skating,etc. athletes, and these sports have different demands on the knees from badminton, as such six months to a badminton player is far from sufficient. After the three months recovery period (in Germany), Wang Lin upon returning home did not have the care of a specialized therapist, leaving her to do the rehabilitative exercises on her own most of the time, thereby falling short of her rehabilitation needs. At that time,Wang Lin was anxious to come back and accumulate points for the Olympics, but on 2011, April the 5th, at the Australian Open, her knee actually wasn't fully ready. [End of translation]. Actually the above passage refers to the period after her first injury incident on 15th Sep, 2010 at the CHN Masters, before her second incident in June 2011 at SG Open, and also not the recent third incident which occurred during the CHN National Team Championship at end 2012. My understanding is that,for this third incident, as there was edema (swelling caused by excessive fluid retention) in the injured knee, the doctor could not be certain of the extent of the injury, whether the ACL was torn or completely ruptured, until the swelling has subsided to do a thorough examination. That's why she is instructed to recuperate at home for a period of time before deciding whether and/or when to undergo surgery. Also it is the Chinese New Year period (Spring Festival), I believed most Chinese would prefer to spend time at home with their family. For sure,I trust CBA will ensure she receives the best medical care; just too early to tell if she can still return to competitive badminton, not too hopeful of that, I've to admit..
You're most welcome. As my Mandarin isn't up to par, I play safe and always stick as close as possible to the author's original words without paraphrasing or using my own words too much, for fear of misreading, misinterpreting or misconstruing their meaning unless forced to do so by guessing from the context as there isn't any really good,capable Chinese-English dictionary available online or app. Also I thought it better,rightly or wrongly, not to sound too English and lose the Chinese flavour. Any advice from experts appreciated.
Wang Lin on her TengXun weibo(microblog), dated 29th Jan 2013, posted this: 经历六周,昨天终于摆脱石膏的束缚,开始新一阶段的恢复,感谢大家的关心与支持! After (going through it for) six weeks, (I am) finally freed from the cast yesterday and beginning another stage of recovery. Thank you all for your care and support ! As of 13th Feb, she hasn't said anything about her present condition in the microblog but was busy for days (apparently out of boredom) trying to solve the following puzzle which reportedly nobody could solve until somebody did later that day (I'm not posting the supposed solution in case some of you are interested to have a go at it):- As of today, we can assume she has yet to be under the knife. The article I posted #1327 was dated 31st Jan 2013.
I think it would probably have been a brace that she was wearing rather than a cast. Agree with Justin's comment she probably has not yet had another operation, especially as the time frame fell within Chinese New yea.
石膏 is plaster cast, if I'm not wrong, and wearing a knee brace wouldn't restrict her movement much, that's why she is so relieved to have the cast removed now. What's more, a cast cannot be easily removed when it's dirty or you want to scratch yourself for feeling itchy.
the thing is an ACL injury would need a brace. Plaster cast would be for a fracture. Perhaps we have a diagnostic dilemma....?
just going back to this comment, we are referring to Wang Lin's third injury which is an ACL. ACL ruptures do not get put in a cast for 6 weeks. Associated fracture is one possibility but wasn't mentioned before in Justin's translation. ACL rupture with a fracture usually is associated with some trauma. E.g. road trauma, rather than an injury on court. Lastly, why is she posting a picture of her lower leg? An ACL rupture is in the knee. It just doesn't add up....
Wang Lin was quoting message from the MS coach Chen Qi Qiu. presumably the casting was Chen's not Wang Lin's. TBH, that foot doesn't match Wang Lin's pretty face!
Oops,my bad. That was indeed Chen Qiqiu's blogpost quoted by Wang Lin. Cheung's posts set me thinking and confused until I saw AlanY's response that made me rechecked the Wang Lin blogpost and only then I realized my mistake. A thousand apologies - next time I'd better pay more attention to what I'm reading instead of trying to do too many things at the same time, multi-tasking and being distracted. OK, I shall set it right this time. Wang Lin's response to Chen Qiqiu's blogpost (was he injured too?) as follows: 恭喜啊 我也还有一周的固定 就能开始康复了 加油加油 dated 29th Jan. Congratulations. Me too, I've exactly a week to begin my recovery. JiaYou, JiaYou. -- Many thanks to AlanY for pointing out my mistake.
Cheung, many thanks to you too for your alertness and knowledge of ACL injury. Once again, my apologies to everyone for my embarrassing oversight.
Wang Lin is a fighter and it's clear that she will not give up on her dream to get back to 100%. She's returned to the game before, and it looks like she is determined to return again. I hope that she will once again return to the court at the level she has the potential to get to. If all goes well, hopefully towards the end of 2013 we may see her back.
I second that. Like you, I believe it's not a vain hope. Wish Wang Lin speedy recovery. Most of all,hope she regains her confidence and has the willpower and determination to give badminton another go. Three times severely injured and three times comeback make it a record-breaking,unprecedented feat, esp when a successful one - takes a lot of courage and sacrifice, including the encouragement and support of family,friends and CBA. May we see Wang Lin hitting the shuttle before end of the year. JiaYou !
looks like she's trying to get back fit and play again?! didn't think that would be possible with her injury. that's awesome, all the best to her!