Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri reveals grim battle with Covid

CHENNAI: A smiling Anirban Lahiri greeted select members of the Indian media during a virtual press conference on Wednesday evening. Lahiri, who will be taking part in his second Olympics, wanted to speak to the Indian media as he wanted to spread awareness about Covid, recovering from it and donating to India-specific charities to help the country recover quickly after a devastating second wave. 

His mood turned somber when he got down to explaining his own battle with the virus, which sent him to the emergency room twice and had 'my doctor worried'. 

"I had a pretty serious bout of Covid-19," he said. 

"I was diagnosed with Covid pneumonia, think it was on day five after the onset of the disease when I was asked to visit urgent care facility by my doctor (he contracted the disease in the third week of April). It's quite a scary thing when you hear that. My chest x-ray wasn't positive so I was put on stronger medication. I had to visit the emergency room again when my fever spiked to 104 degrees. My 02 sats were down and my doctor was worried. Luckily, a subsequent x-ray ruled out Covid pneumonia and I began to recover. In all, I had lost about 7.5 kgs in 10 days. Lost a lot of my muscle mass but I was fortunate to have had access to that medication." 

"It's been difficult to watch what's been happening in other parts of the world. It's been a very difficult time. So I really appreciate the PGA tour in helping me to get the word out." 

He also appealed to the wider community to donate to charities if they had the means to do so. When the topic shifted to his game, the 34-year-old was quick to note that 'this is the best I have felt since Covid struck me'. 

"I played some good golf last week. Lots of positives. This week I have tried to work on some of those areas that needed polishing." He will next be in action at the John Deere Classic in Illinois from Thursday.

Chikka to be caddie in Tokyo 

Lahiri revealed that he will be taking the seasoned S Chikkarangappa as his caddie to the Tokyo Games. The World No 416 could be an inspired choice by Lahiri as his technical know-how could be crucial in navigating the course. Lahiri's personal coach, Vijay Divecha, will not be accompanying him.