KR Rohit (pictured, left) and R Ke Yukti Roshni (right) were once poised to take on the world with their paddles. Now they are saving lives in their native India with their stethoscopes. Both were junior stars in Tamil Nadu, India, home of the nation's top-ranked player Sharath Kamal Achanta. Roshni was once the third-ranked junior in the nation. Rohit won gold in the South Asian junior championships and later played on India's national team. After their stellar junior careers, both obtained medical degrees. After completing their internships this year, each was retained for an extra month to help with the flood of COVID-19 coronavirus patients. The tournament-tested table tennis twosome toil tirelessly to tame the terror through treatment. Like British Paralympian and physician Kim Daybell, they are giving their rackets a rest and jumping into service on the front lines, confronting life-or-death situations daily. "The number of cases are going up," reports Rohit from a hospital in Chennai. "There is a separate block which has been set up for testing and isolation. All of us are working round the clock. I was in the emergency ward last week. We are working in turns." Rohit credits his table tennis background for helping him be decisive under pressure. "The pressure that we go through during important matches helps overcome other situations," he says. "It helps in taking quick and crucial decisions as a professional." While Rohit thoroughly enjoyed his junior table tennis career, he is satisfied with his decision to focus on medicine. "The urge to pick up the racket is there," says Rohit, "but I chose to give studies the priority for a while." Recent events have more than vindicated this decision. Countless new infections have been prevented, and many lives have likely been saved, thanks to the tireless efforts of health care workers like Rohit and Roshni. Of course, there is no reason why they couldn't put a ping-pong table in the doctors' lounge.

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