Tennis prodigy Darrshan Suresh Kumar

Free Malaysia Today

Driven by family legacy and a passion for the sport, 17-year-old national tennis player Darrshan Suresh Kumar balances intense training and school.   Story by: Dinesh Kumar Maganathan  Shot by: Muhaimin Marwan & Moganraj Villavan  Presented by: Danish Raja Reza  Edited by: Nirmalan Mohan   Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2024/06/17/teen-tennis-ace-darrshan-kumar-courts-professional-career/   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTLifestyle #DarrshanSureshKumar #Tennis #Passion

Transcript

00:00Ranked 277 by the International Tennis Federation in the under-18 category,

00:20national tennis player Darshan Suresh Kumar's life is far from conventional.

00:26He trains four times a week with his grandfather,

00:28former Armed Forces tennis player Major S. Krishna,

00:31and does fitness training with his father on weekends.

00:35During tournaments, he is often excused from classes

00:37at Monkiara International School in KL.

00:41My life is different compared to the others who just go to school

00:45and not have any competitive sports outside.

00:48I only get to go out around once a month,

00:51or that is even if I'm lucky to go if I don't have any tournaments that time.

00:55So that once a month I really enjoy myself with my friends.

00:58They call me a part-time student.

01:01Darshan comes from a family with a rich tennis heritage.

01:04His mother, Major K. Nirmala, was a national tennis player,

01:08and his aunt and uncle were former national and state players respectively.

01:14The interest he has is more than anybody else.

01:17So he will never say, I had enough.

01:19So he would like to have more, more.

01:21That's where I said, oh this guy got the interest,

01:24and he's really motivated to play.

01:26Darshan was introduced to tennis as a young boy,

01:29when he would join his family on the court at the Royal Port Dickson Yacht Club.

01:34After going for a few training sessions with my grandpa,

01:36that's when I realized, OK, this is what I want to do,

01:39and I want to be better than everyone that has ever played in my family.

01:43So that's what motivated me and really chose that sport.

01:48Training under his grandfather, an Armed Forces tennis player for over 25 years,

01:52has been both challenging and fulfilling.

01:56I go more on tactics, techniques, and how to go about winning it.

02:02What is your mental strength should be?

02:04How do you manage to play with the hot sun?

02:06You must overcome, because why?

02:08Tournaments are always played under hot sun.

02:11And how does Darshan overcome high-stakes matches?

02:15You just be yourself on the court.

02:17Don't think about anyone.

02:18Don't look anywhere else.

02:20And if someone just shouts at you, just bringing you down,

02:23use that as a reverse psychology and say,

02:26I'm going to prove you wrong.

02:27And that's how I really do it.

02:29Darshan's advice to other aspiring athletes is simple.

02:35Trying different sports is really important,

02:36but don't let anyone else decide it for you.

02:39Don't just stop this because you're losing, you know,

02:41because that's not how you improve as a person.

02:46Yeah, just enjoy the sport that you're playing in

02:50and go with the flow, I would say.

02:52For me, that's what I say, go with the flow

02:54and you'll see results coming in for sure

02:56if you put in the work.

Category

Transcript

Recommended