International Yoga Day 2021: India's leading esports athletes highlight significance of Yoga in their lives
Abhinav Tejan, one of India’s top player in Tekken7; Karan Manganani, the best Clash Royale player in India; and Moinuddin Amdani, the leading player in PES 2020 spoke about the well-being of esports athletes and how Yoga can help to achieve it, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic scenario.
All these esports heroes are winning laurels for the country and are setting the bar high and aspiring many more youngsters to take up esports professionally.
Highlighting the importance of Yoga for esports athletes, Abhinav Tejan – the current national esports champion in India – said: “After the pandemic outbreak in our country last year, the esports athletes are playing more than the usual timing as we all are stuck in our houses. But, since we don’t want to part ways with our controller, mouse, mobile and keyboard we need a more, let’s say, easily acquired solution which takes care of our mental and physical well being during these tough times. The best thing about Yoga is that you can take it upright in the comfort of your own living room.
“Yoga might not only help improve the state and condition of your body and mind but also improve your gaming ability. Yoga is a form of workout which helps relieve stress and focuses on the use of breath in order to balance your body and calm your mind. As we can’t be able to go to gyms or any sports centre, we should make Yoga our everyday regime,” adds Abhinav – who held the first position in Dreamhack Delhi 2018 and 2019. He finished third at SEA Major TWT 2018, fourth at IESF 2018 Kaohsiung, and ninth at EVO Japan 2020.
According to another prominent esport athlete in the country Karan “jin kazama” Manganani, being glued to the screens takes a toll on an athlete’s physical and mental health and the gamers also face issues related to their spine, neck and fingers due their profession and Yoga helps them a lot to keep such problems at bay.
“Esports gamers spend most of their day (10-13 hours sometimes) glued to their screens which takes a toll on their physical and mental health. Gamers usually have spine-related issues, their fingers are constantly stressed, and their neck and shoulder take a lot of pressure due to their profession. Esports athletes need to keep a check on their health, both physically and mentally and Yoga is a great way to help them, especially when we are confined at home.
