On Thursday, February 18, 2021, the space rover Perseverance landed on Mars. The aptly named interplanetary interloper braved a 300-million-mile space odyssey to land on the Red Planet, where it will persevere in its dutiful service to science. Meanwhile, back on Earth, a scientist named Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (pictured) has logged another successful experiment. An engineer by trade, the 28-year-old Gnanasekaran has a little side hustle of raising India's profile in international table tennis. In 2019, he became the first Indian player to crack the top 25 in world ranking. Despite his record-setting international success, Gnanasekaran has yet to replicate the experiment at the national level. In 2014, he reached his first national men's singles final but came up short. Similar disappointment followed in 2015 and 2018. The last denial was at the hands of Sharath Kamal Achanta, who claimed his record-setting ninth championship in the process. Preparations for this year's tilt were disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, Gnanasekaran made the most of his lockdown, training at home with a table tennis robot and implementing video analysis into his private training sessions. "It is the first time I got three weeks of training at home for the national championship," said Gnanasekaran before the championships. "I have prepared well, and hopefully, I will be lucky this time." On the subjects of luck and preparation, scientist Louis Pasteur remarked, "In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind." In the final, Gnanasekaran's preparation paid off. He avenged his loss to all-time champion Sharath Kamal Achanta and claimed his inaugural title with a thhrilling back-and-forth (11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8) scoreline. After forcing an error with a huge forehand on championship point, Gnanasekaran let out an exultant roar. While the years of bitter frustration could have defeated a weaker spirit, for a champion they are fuel for the fire, turning the long-awaited victory incalculably sweeter. On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, perseverance landed Sathiyan Gnanasekaran his first national championship. What will perseverance land you?

More at Olympic Channel