Christian Didier Chin made progress during the Movement Control Order period in Sabah. 

The national tennis number one who is set to return to Kuala Lumpur soon will be reunited with his Iranian personal coach Saed Alirizad in preparation for the upcoming tournaments that will be commenced from next months onwards. 

He is likely to take part in some local meets organised by Lawn Tennis Association Malaysia (LTAM) which are aimed to ensure the local players can get back to top level performance following the three months lay-off ahead of international tournaments scheduled to restart in mid- August or early September. 

How an athlete copes during restrictive period of three months?

The 19-year-old when contacted on Thursday said he has benefited from the break due to the Covid-19 crisis which resulted in home training sessions for him. 

“The three months of staying at home and spending more time with family members has made me grown spiritually.

“I also get to build up relationship with the tourism sector by participating in water sports as well as hiking and rafting which I had no time to experience before.

“Now I becoming more patient, have perseverance, understanding, and inner peace which is good for my game as well,” he said. 

Christian gained more physical strength with additional 5 kg of weight.

 Meanwhile, his father Christopher, who is monitoring Christian’s progress under Saed Alirizad, said his son has reverted back to double backhand after intensive assessment of his performance during the transition period last year in a bid to make him a world class player.

He also said Christian has gained five kilos in weight in order to gain physical strength apart from improving his short balls and volleying skills. 

“During the past few months, we have provided him specific system training on his baseline strokes, enhancing his serve and volley capability, and also making him to put more spins on his backhand drive.

“Furthermore, we also assigned a good sparring partner for him to accommodate his on court movement agility.” 

Both also expressed their gratitude to Sabah Youth and Sports Minister Phoong Jin Zhe, Sabah Sports Council Director Mohd Asneh Mohd Noor and Sabah Sports Board General Manager Terrance Pudin for their support by providing a specially arranged court for Christian to train at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex in the period from Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) since May.