Gnansekaran Sathiyan returns to human sparring after Tamil Nadu government lifts restrictions
Gnanasekaran Sathiyan is currently the World no. 32 ranked player
|After a long wait, India’s star paddler Gnanasekaran Sathiyan is finally back to human sparring after playing against a robot inside his Chennai-residence during the lockdown. The Tamil Nadu government lifted the restrictions on sports complexes and stadia earlier this week, on Monday.
The Butterfly amicus prime robot has been keeping him company throughout the lockdown, with the machine rocketing balls at the rate of 120 per minute from the other side, but Gnansekaran Sathiyan has been itching to play against a human. However, the moment the Tamil Nadu government gave a go-ahead for opening sports complexes and stadia, the paddler wasted no time. He spent an hour training with his coach S. Raman, even though Sathiyan felt his foot movements were rusty and admitted that he knows it will take some time.
"My footwork and movements felt rusty. Though my hand-eye coordination and technique haven't really deteriorated because of the robot training, I'm struggling to sync my movement and ball timing. Also, I was tiring out after 5-6 balls. It will take some time. I know I'll get there in two weeks so I'm trying not to rush myself,” said Gnansekaran Sathiyan, as reported by ESPN.
Sathiyan was up against his coach in a training facility at the latter’s home, which was empty even though it is usually filled-up with trainees. Training after such a long time has not been easy, with the World no. 32 facing difficulties to keep up with the pace of the receiving balls from the other end.
"I usually play very close to the table, but I'm now trying to play at a medium to long-distance behind the table. I was finding counter top-spins difficult and missing some balls completely. But I just kept telling myself that it's only day one,” added the Table Tennis star.
