COVID-19: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran joins fight with donations

India's top-ranked paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on Monday pledged to donate Rs one lakh to Tamil Nadu CMs Relief Fund and Rs 25,000 to PM-CARES Fund to combat the coronavirus crisis in India.

"I feel it's our responsibility to give back to the society especially at the time of such a crisis. I was really moved by seeing the suffering of people and I felt I should help in the way I can," Sathiyan told IANS from his home in Chennai.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Executive Committee has decided to suspend all planned ITTF events and activities involving international travel until June 30 as it discussed the effects of COVID-19 on the international table tennis event schedule on Sunday.

With the Olympics also pushed back to 2021, Sathiyan is now getting some time off his busy schedule.

Earlier in the day, India cricket captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma pledged to support the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's (Maharashtra) Relief Fund in the ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic. A source in the industry told IANS that Virat and Anushka have jointly donated Rs 3 crore towards the cause.

Ace boxer and Rajya Sabha MP Mary Kom also made contributions towards fight against coronavirus pandemic by releasing an amount of Rs one crore from her MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) Fund towards the relief efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, she also announced that she was donating her one-month salary to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Various other sportspersons and organisations have contributed towards funds established for fight against coronavirus pandemic.

More than 1,000 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported so far in India while 29 people have lost their lives.