Table Tennis champ is now a corona warrior

CHENNAI: Several sportspersons have contributed cash, masks, food and daily essentials to those affected by the lockdown. A handful of them are also doctors, fighting the spread of the deadly virus. Former table tennis player Tarun J George too is doing his bit.

The 32-year-old gastroenterologist and liver specialist is taking care of emergency cases at MGM Healthcare. Paddlers KR Rohit and RK Yukti Roshni — who’ve just finished their MBBS degrees — too have joined the cause. “We attend to restricted regular outpatients,” said Tarun. We’ve gotten quite a few suspected COVID cases, and we’re attending to them,’’ said Tarun.

Once junior No 1 in Tamil Nadu, Tarun feels that his table tennis skills have percolated into his job as well. “It has definitely helped me. It’s improved my hand-eye coordination, which helps me during advanced endoscopic procedures. Sports has also taught me the importance of a disciplined lifestyle and hard work.” The PSBB alumnus’ love for the sport took shape during his school days.

“I was coached by the Rao brothers (A Srinivasa and A Muralidhara). I represented the state at the nationals from cadet to junior level (U-18). After that, I stopped and pursued medicine. My best performance was winning junior doubles (with R Abishek).” During his playing days, Tarun had trained a lot with current World No 31 A Sharath Kamal. “Since I was coached by Srinivasa sir, I was close to both Sharath and his brother Rajat. I had a table at home.

They used to come over and we all trained together for extra hours. We had lot of fun.” Dronacharya Award winner Srinivasa too was all praise for Tarun. “He was a brilliant lefthander who played aggressively. He was a regular at the nationals. He was a very good prospect.”