Centre of Excellence (COE) player Elias Nicolaou from Cyprus was forced to withdraw from his second round at Norwegian International after a twist in his left knee.
The Cyprian will therefore not attend the rest of the tournaments for the year of 2017, but is determined to come back stronger.
- Unfortunately, I had to retire from my match yesterday and withdraw from the upcoming tournaments Holbæk A grade from 25-26 November, Welsh International from 29 November-2 December and Irish Open from 5-9 December, Nicolaou wrote on his Facebook page on 17 November.
- Also, I will not play in the last 2 team matches of 2017, 18th of November and 9th of December. As you can see I have been waiting for this month and worked so hard for these tournaments but that's life, I might be a bit disappointed but still motivated to work even harder to achieve my goals.
Good news and bad news from Cyprus
After returning to the COE from Norway, Nicolaou decided to go back to Cyprus to see a doctor. They did an MRI and found out that there is damage on the anterior cruciate ligament. It's not broken but a part of it (25-50%) is cut.
- The good news is that no surgery is needed and the bad news is that I have to wait for 2 - 3 months to get back on court which is quite long time but I guess it could be worse, he wrote.
The doctor told him that there is no reason for surgery on the ligament because the original one is still strong and it's better than a full "fake" one. There is a small chance for laparoscopy in case something in the knee bothers him when he starts walking.
- As I always say giving up is NOT an option and if life wants to keep knocking me down I will always find a way to get back up and say "is that all you got?". Life can be tough sometimes but for sure it will never be tougher than me.