Watch: Tokyo Olympics-bound G Sathiyan trains with Anirban Ghosh in Chennai 

Star Indian paddler G Sathiyan is leaving no stone unturned ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which starts on July 23. The 28-year-old has been in tremendous form this year, beating higher-ranked compatriot Achanta Sharath Kamal twice before producing a stupendous performance in the Polish Super Liga last month.

With a lockdown in place in Chennai, G Sathiyan has been unable to attend the Raman TT High-Performance Center, where he usually trains with coach S Raman. The 2021 national champion has thus been forced to train in his own setup at the Sathiyan TT Hall along with sparring partner Anirban Ghosh.

On Friday, G Sathiyan posted a video of himself training at the Sathiyan TT Hall. In the video, Ghosh is seen serving, with G Sathiyan hitting backhand strokes repeatedly for close to forty seconds.

Watch the clip here:

Ripping some Backhands💪💪#sathiyantt #tabletennis #sports #lockdowntraining #backhands #sweettiming #trending #butterflyproplayer #TokyoOlympics #Olympics #tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/HDcKgmr3tO

— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) May 21, 2021

Lockdown made G Sathiyan a better player

In an earlier interview, G Sathiyan has said that lockdown has helped him improve a lot and he is now a much more mature player compared to what he was a couple of years ago. He has also revealed that he is looking to add more power to his strokes.

“I think I have improved a lot of things during the lockdown. On my backhand, I have stepped up and I'm playing more aggressively. The serves and returns have also improved; I've also worked on the physical aspect. These improvements have made me a better player now, which has given me a cutting edge,” G Sathiyan said a day after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.

YAYYY😍😍Officially qualified for Tokyo Olympics 💪😁Always dreamt of being at the Olympics right from my childhood days & certainly a dream come true moment😁😁Years of struggle and sacrifice has definitely paid off😁 pic.twitter.com/hfD4glFE2I

— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) March 18, 2021

G Sathiyan hopes to beat Tomokazu Harimoto in Tokyo

The paddler also expressed his desire to beat the local favorite and World No. 4 Tomokazu Harimoto at the Tokyo Olympics. The two have played four times against each other, with the 17-year-old Japanese prevailing thrice.

“I want to play against Tomokazu Harimoto. It’s going to be very tough but playing against the crowd favorite Japanese in Tokyo at the Olympics, it will be a lot of fun,” G Sathiyan said during a SAI virtual media interaction.