Neil Mulye, table tennis
When it comes to table tennis, 12-year-old Neil Mulye is a prodigy from Pune. After showcasing his skills in the cadet category, in 2019, Mulye moved to the sub-junior category. For Mulye, the lockdown is comfortable as he trains at home every day with his coach, who is also his father, Upendra Mulye, at home. Although he misses playing with his friends, video calling has made his life easy. Mulye is also enjoying the re-run of Ramayan and Mahabharat on the television screen.
Mulye who stays at Bavdhan, is maintains his fitness with circuit training drills and also practices tables tennis with his father on a mini table tennis table at home or on the dining table.
Morning session
I wake up at 5:45am and my fitness routine starts at 6am. I do exercises which includes circuit training drills. The session continues for an hour. Circuit training includes – press-ups, pull-ups, inclined press-ups, sit-ups (lower abdominals), skipping, among other things. I also do suryanamaskar every day.
Once I am done with my routine, I again sleep till 9:30am. After that, I have a training session with Mihir Teranikar via video conferencing. Then, later in the morning, I help my mother clean the house and water the plants. I love watering plants and it is my daily job during the lockdown. Then, I listen to music or watch TV.
{{/usCountry}}Once I am done with my routine, I again sleep till 9:30am. After that, I have a training session with Mihir Teranikar via video conferencing. Then, later in the morning, I help my mother clean the house and water the plants. I love watering plants and it is my daily job during the lockdown. Then, I listen to music or watch TV.
{{/usCountry}}Afternoon session
After lunch, I don’t sleep and it is time to play with my younger brother- cards or ludo. We also play cricket on the house porch. My afternoons are filled with fun activities with my brother and with my Class 7 exam over, there is no burden of studies. Sometimes, I do study Class 8 books.
Evening session
In the evening, I exercise again at 5pm. My father also joins me and we play table tennis before concluding our session. Every alternate day, we analyse video recordings of our previous matches individually as well as with all players of PYC Hindu Gymkhana. Our training ends around 6:30pm or 7pm, then I spend time reading story books.
After dinner, it is again time to plays cards and ludo with family. Sometimes, we also watch a movie together. The lockdown period feels like my summer vacations, I just miss training on the courts. I hope this lockdown ends soon as I don’t want table tennis players to stay at home during the summer season. Many coaching camps and a lot of practice events take place during these two months and I want to enjoy all that with other players.
Gym
I don’t train at the gym yet. I will be turning 13 in July and my exercise routine is enough to keep me fit.
Hobby
Reading books, listening music and watching television.