Coronavirus: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran starts training with robot at home

Amid the country-wide lockdown issued to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, India’s top-ranked table tennis star Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is making the most of the situation. The World No. 31 has set up a table at his home and is training with an imported robot!

“It’s a remote-operated robot (Butterfly Amicus Prime for advanced players). I got it from Germany under the advice of my coach S. Raman in November last when Shen Yaohuan of China came to the Raman TT Academy. Now with the lockdown in place, I took it back from the academy so that I can practice,” Sathiyan was quoted saying by Sportstar.

The robot, which costs $2000 USD (roughly, Rs 1.5 lakhs), was funded by the Go Sports Foundation while the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu took care of the import duty and customs clearance. According to Sathiyan, the robot is capable of giving the ball different speeds, trajectory, frequency and spin.

https://twitter.com/sathiyantt/status/1248444434309451777

Although he admits that a robot could never replace a human, Sathiyan says that it is helping him improve his technique, sharpness and reflex.

“Of course, the imported robot can never replace a human. It gives one shot for a backhand and another for a long forehand whereas a normal robot will put the ball only at the same speed. It can send 120 balls per minute and 300 balls can be loaded into it,” he said.

While the Olympics have been postponed by a full year due to the pandemic, Sathiyan believes it gives him more time to prepare and be ready for the mega event. In a recent interview with Times of India, he said that it is a year gained for him and not a year lost.

The first Indian to break into the World top-25, Sathiyan has given fans in the country high hopes. Hopefully, he will be at his best when it matters at Tokyo 2021.

Also read: Coronavirus: Paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran donates Rs 1 lakh 25 thousand