Somerville was speaking from Melbourne after a five-week period which comprised one week of training in Bangkok, two weeks of competition and a two-week quarantine on her return from Thailand.

The 25-year-old Australian is among the athletes forced to adapt to the new circumstances and chart a path to the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the coming months.

Back-to-back competitions in Thailand offered a first opportunity for Somerville to return to competition ahead of the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) qualification process resuming in the coming weeks, where she will seek to seal qualification for the women’s and mixed doubles events.

Somerville and women’s doubles partner Setyana Mapasa suffered a first-round defeat in the first of two Thailand Open tournaments, before a second-round exit in the second after losing in two closely contested games to Malaysia’s Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean, who went on to reach the semi-finals.

Somerville explains that the second tournament was motivating after a "wake-up call" in the first, with the two-time Commonwealth Games competitor saying the competitions helped reignited the fire for badminton.

"We really went into it without much expectation, we wanted to win and we came in with a game plan to win, but it really was about assessing where our level was to see if we had dropped or even improved from last time," Somerville told insidethegames. "I think we found out we are about similar, we have a lot of things we can still work on as we try to work to get into the top 15, top 10.

"It was hard to switch back into that competition mode, the intensity and focus.

"We were switching between too intense and then too passive and not wanting to make mistakes. It was different with a totally empty stadium, besides the officials and organisers. Even the players cannot watch each other, no crowds, that kind of thing.

"It was just really good to be back in a competitive environment again, around all the world class players we had not seen in so long.

"It reignited our motivation and brought our goal back into focus."

The new reality athletes are having to compete under was clear early on. Somerville explained that to leave Australia for competition she needed to provide a series of new documentation, including a permit to travel, invitation from organisers in Thailand, COVID-19 travel insurance and a negative test result from the previous 72 hours.

Amid the added stress and concern over potential exposure to COVID-19, Somerville acknowledges one perk was having a rare seat to herself on a long-haul flight.

Somerville’s experience on arrival in Thailand sounds familiar, with several of the countermeasures in place seeming familiar to those in operation at the Australian Open in Melbourne, as well as the restrictions outlined for the end goal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Players were tested on arrival to the tournament and required to remain within their hotel rooms until negative results were received. The first week saw athletes limited to 1 hour and 15 minutes of on court training each day, with the same time limit in place for gym training. Pre-COVID, Somerville explained that training was typically two hours each day with unlimited access hotel or external gyms.

COVID-19 liaison officers were allocated to each country participating to instruct athletes. Somerville added that officials were in place across the tournament to explain when athletes could leave their rooms, take lifts and transport to screening processes.

Restrictions also limited players' ability train with athletes from other countries, while Somerville reflected that there was the added drain of being restricted to hotel rooms and training courts once eliminated from competition, with the knowledge matches were still ongoing.

The build-up to the tournaments saw complaints from Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, among others, that the conditions imposed were risking the fitness of athletes. The BWF defended the protocols put in place at the tournament, but added the guidelines would continue to be improved moving forwards.

"It is definitely reassuring, especially as we did have a few positive cases, similar to the Australian Open," Somerville said. "It is good to be able to see that they are taking all the necessary precautions.

"I knew what to expect and that it was for the greater good. There has to be a certain degree of strictness as otherwise it just falls apart. You can’t half-arse this kind of thing."

The tournament restrictions, after all, seem less galling than the two-week period of quarantine Somerville entered on return to Australia.

The social media accounts of the multiple Oceanian champion offered an insight into the experience of being an athlete under the circumstances, with a need to adapt to maintain fitness.

Her Instagram account boasts over 200,000 followers, which Sommerville explained to the Australian Olympic Committee's (AOC) in-house podcast last year has been boosted by Chinese support, after it was revealed during a tournament several years ago that she is a fifth generation descendant of Kang Youwei, a Chinese scholar and political reformer.

A particularly resourceful video sees Somerville fill a bag with water bottles to help with weighted exercises, with stools and other hotel furniture utilised. An exercise bike was also hired from the hotel, while an exemption was approved to allow weights to be delivered from home.

"For me exercise is a real outlet and helps with mental health," she said.

"I did a lot of yoga during quarantine. I have never really done any yoga in my life, but I had a subscription to a free app and I found it a good routine and something to focus on. The smoothing music and voice was a nice escape from this one room.

"I also kept up with my Chinese which I study online, while I mixed up some podcasts from business, mindsets, pop culture."

Somerville laughs: "I am also not proud of home much Netflix movies I watched."

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Somerville’s stay in Bangkok coincided with a surge of speculation over the fate of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics sparked by a report by British newspaper The Times, which said the Japanese Government had privately decided Tokyo 2020 would have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis. The story, based on an unidentified Government source, was swiftly denied by the Japanese Government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

It prompted IOC President Thomas Bach to call for an end to speculation, which he said was "hurting athletes".

The speculation and uncertainty must impact all prospective Tokyo 2020 participants, but particularly those, like Somerville, who are seeking to compete at the Olympic Games for the first time.

The 25-year-old was unable to play at Rio 2016 despite qualification after her playing partner Mapasa was ruled ineligible by the governing body after her nationality change from Indonesia.

Somerville has credited the AOC for their regular communication with athletes to help provide ongoing reassurance amid the uncertainty.

"Our Chef de Mission is really good with updating us with emails, if there are rumours or if they there are updates from the Tokyo Organising Committee," she said.

"They will correspond with us and say ‘don’t listen to these rumours, it has been reiterated that they are all committed to the Olympics and that in April you will get this update about family and friends, about the crowds, the protocols or travel. It is really specific and reassuring for us."

Planning remains a key challenge as Somerville seeks to secure qualification for the Games, with the Australian and Mapasa occupying a qualification position for the women’s doubles when rankings were halted last year.

She laughs when discussing the prospect of participating in tournaments in Europe and Asia over the coming months, noting that with a two-week quarantine at the end it would amount to nearly nine weeks confined to a hotel room.

"It does not feel like you could come out of that sane, with a positive experience," Somerville says, before explaining that they have decided to withdraw from the European tournaments, which the Australian team view as of a higher risk.

"In terms of preparation I am still taking it day by day, month by month," she adds. "I am not really thinking that far ahead, I feel like last year conditioned me to not even plan. Have a general plan but don’t go into the details, as it is a waste of time because everything gets muddled up again.

"I used to have a whole month planned out, but now I’ve not even planned the upcoming weekend."

The ultimate plan remains to be in Tokyo later this year competing at the Olympic Games. Despite the disappointment of measures which would see athletes movements restricted, their stay in the Athletes’ Village limited and the potential for limited crowds, Somerville says she would just be thankful if the Games can go ahead.

"I think in general I am super disappointed about how scaled down it is, I have had it so hyped up in my head about what a spectacle Japan would put on," Somerville says.

"Just knowing Japan, they would have gone all out, it would have been such a memorable Olympics. It is disappointing that they have had to scale it down and so many restrictions are in place.

"At the end of the day, I will just be happy if the Olympics can go ahead and we can participate, perform and call myself an Olympian. Whatever it takes to do that I will still be happy."