NEW DELHI: The Indian table tennis contingent heads to the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia with its highest ever squad and main the fee is the 25-year-old Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Ranked 49th in the world, the Chennai-based paddler is India’s highest bet for now not just a podium end, but a gold in individual and in men’s doubles (with Achanta Sharath Kamal) occasions.
ALSO READ: Complete checklist of Indian athletes at CWG 2018
Historically, Indian paddlers have accomplished smartly at the CWG since its inception in 2002, claiming a complete of 12 medals, but the previous edition at Glasgow proved reasonably forgettable with the country’s tally reduced to just one medal - a silver in men’s doubles.
However, four years on, the Indian table tennis landscape has modified drastically and Sathiyan believes that the present squad has what it takes to ship the products.
“We can stand up to 5 - 6 medals. We all feel we are at our highest and we've got a lovely staff,” he instructed TOI in an interview. “We are very confident and will make this the best Commonwealth Games. Hopes are prime.”
ALSO READ: Know your CWG athlete - Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
For long, Sharath Kamal (World no. 71) had been Indian table tennis’ flag-bearer, but now, the country has 8 avid gamers within the best 100 (six in senior men and two in senior women). In the Under-21 ratings, there are seven avid gamers (two in men and 5 in women) within the best 100 bracket.
CWG debut
For Sathiyan - a Youth Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2008 - the 2018 CWG shall be, unusually, his first main multi-sport tournament. In 2010, he was once ranked sixth among the Indians and thus overlooked out on CWG selection, and in 2014 he had to choose his engineering examinations over the professional tours. Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he went via one of the toughest levels of his lifestyles, when he misplaced his father.
The engineering graduate fought in the course of the tricky instances and good fortune followed. “Losing my father was once tough, but that made me more potent and I'm making better selections now,” he said. “It is superb, stepping into for my debut (CWG) Games. I'm prime on confidence as I have got just right score and I can be seeded prime as smartly.”
Sathiyan’s occupation graph skyrocketed after he won the 2016 Belgium Open - best the second Indian participant to win an ITTF singles tournament. Then 2017 proved to be a stellar year as he claimed bronze in Thailand, Belgium, Sweden and silver in Bulgaria and in addition won the Spanish Open.
“2017 was once a year big for me. Belgium 2016 was once just about my middle but it was once the Spanish Open win that in reality helped my confidence,” he said.
For his achievements in 2017, the 25-year-old was once the recipient of the Mahindra Scorpio Times of India (TOISA) Table Tennis Player of the Year award in February.
CWG hopes
Dispelling any notion of pressure, Sathiyan is confident that he'll be returning with multiple medal from Gold Coast. “Three yellows, this is my purpose,” he said. “Yes, there may be a large number of pleasure, but I also know that I should now not be taking an excessive amount of pressure. Pressure is there and other folks have expectations, but I'm focussing on playing a standard event.”
There are three others avid gamers ranked higher than him within the fray - Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, ranked 22, Singapore’s Gao Ning, 33, and England’s Paul Drinkhall, 46, - but that doesn’t worry him a lot.
“Singles won’t be easy, with a large number of best avid gamers, but on any given day, you play smartly and there may be each and every chance to overcome them. All three are very strong. (Liam) Pitchford will also be very tough, he is in terrific form. For me, Pitch and Aruna are the most important competitors,” said Sathiyan.
Doubles with Sharath
India had been looking for a solid men’s doubles pair for a long time and it sort of feels they've in the end got one with Sathiyan teaming up with the veteran Sharath Kamal. The duo loved good fortune in reaching the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open and that has raised hopes of a just right showing from the pair in Australia.
“In doubles, Sharath and I have been playing a large number of professional tours and are playing in combination smartly. We took a large number of time to relax, we attempted a large number of combos. In doubles, we now not best need to understand each other, but our recreation types have to fit each other too. So, we played a large number of tournaments with other companions, in the end it got here all the way down to us playing in combination,” said Sathiyan in regards to the affiliation.
He persevered: “Playing with Sharath is a smart opportunity. He is a mythical participant with such a lot of enjoy and things are a lot more more straightforward playing with him. He is open to new concepts and that is a very big advantage. He makes you comfy and we are gelling in combination smartly.”
“We have overwhelmed the English pair of Pitchford and Drinkhall two times final year, in order that gives us a large number of confidence. They are one of the highest pairs within the fray,” he added.
Soumyajit setback
Leading as much as the Games, the staff suffered an enormous setback with World no. 58 Soumyajit Ghosh withdrawn from the squad owing to rape allegations and Sathiyan admits this changes the staff dynamics.
“Yes, this is a big loss,” he said. “In the staff tournament he was once one of the primary participants. But, we can have to modify our methods. Sanil’s (Shetty) name has been proposed, but there are relatively a few formalities to be accomplished before he can sign up for the squad, so we hope that it works out in time for him. And if he isn't there, we can have play with just four participants within the staff.”
ALSO READ: Complete checklist of Indian athletes at CWG 2018
Historically, Indian paddlers have accomplished smartly at the CWG since its inception in 2002, claiming a complete of 12 medals, but the previous edition at Glasgow proved reasonably forgettable with the country’s tally reduced to just one medal - a silver in men’s doubles.
However, four years on, the Indian table tennis landscape has modified drastically and Sathiyan believes that the present squad has what it takes to ship the products.
“We can stand up to 5 - 6 medals. We all feel we are at our highest and we've got a lovely staff,” he instructed TOI in an interview. “We are very confident and will make this the best Commonwealth Games. Hopes are prime.”
ALSO READ: Know your CWG athlete - Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
For long, Sharath Kamal (World no. 71) had been Indian table tennis’ flag-bearer, but now, the country has 8 avid gamers within the best 100 (six in senior men and two in senior women). In the Under-21 ratings, there are seven avid gamers (two in men and 5 in women) within the best 100 bracket.
CWG debut
For Sathiyan - a Youth Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2008 - the 2018 CWG shall be, unusually, his first main multi-sport tournament. In 2010, he was once ranked sixth among the Indians and thus overlooked out on CWG selection, and in 2014 he had to choose his engineering examinations over the professional tours. Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he went via one of the toughest levels of his lifestyles, when he misplaced his father.
The engineering graduate fought in the course of the tricky instances and good fortune followed. “Losing my father was once tough, but that made me more potent and I'm making better selections now,” he said. “It is superb, stepping into for my debut (CWG) Games. I'm prime on confidence as I have got just right score and I can be seeded prime as smartly.”
Sathiyan’s occupation graph skyrocketed after he won the 2016 Belgium Open - best the second Indian participant to win an ITTF singles tournament. Then 2017 proved to be a stellar year as he claimed bronze in Thailand, Belgium, Sweden and silver in Bulgaria and in addition won the Spanish Open.
“2017 was once a year big for me. Belgium 2016 was once just about my middle but it was once the Spanish Open win that in reality helped my confidence,” he said.
For his achievements in 2017, the 25-year-old was once the recipient of the Mahindra Scorpio Times of India (TOISA) Table Tennis Player of the Year award in February.
CWG hopes
Dispelling any notion of pressure, Sathiyan is confident that he'll be returning with multiple medal from Gold Coast. “Three yellows, this is my purpose,” he said. “Yes, there may be a large number of pleasure, but I also know that I should now not be taking an excessive amount of pressure. Pressure is there and other folks have expectations, but I'm focussing on playing a standard event.”
There are three others avid gamers ranked higher than him within the fray - Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, ranked 22, Singapore’s Gao Ning, 33, and England’s Paul Drinkhall, 46, - but that doesn’t worry him a lot.
“Singles won’t be easy, with a large number of best avid gamers, but on any given day, you play smartly and there may be each and every chance to overcome them. All three are very strong. (Liam) Pitchford will also be very tough, he is in terrific form. For me, Pitch and Aruna are the most important competitors,” said Sathiyan.
Doubles with Sharath
India had been looking for a solid men’s doubles pair for a long time and it sort of feels they've in the end got one with Sathiyan teaming up with the veteran Sharath Kamal. The duo loved good fortune in reaching the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open and that has raised hopes of a just right showing from the pair in Australia.
“In doubles, Sharath and I have been playing a large number of professional tours and are playing in combination smartly. We took a large number of time to relax, we attempted a large number of combos. In doubles, we now not best need to understand each other, but our recreation types have to fit each other too. So, we played a large number of tournaments with other companions, in the end it got here all the way down to us playing in combination,” said Sathiyan in regards to the affiliation.
He persevered: “Playing with Sharath is a smart opportunity. He is a mythical participant with such a lot of enjoy and things are a lot more more straightforward playing with him. He is open to new concepts and that is a very big advantage. He makes you comfy and we are gelling in combination smartly.”
“We have overwhelmed the English pair of Pitchford and Drinkhall two times final year, in order that gives us a large number of confidence. They are one of the highest pairs within the fray,” he added.
Soumyajit setback
Leading as much as the Games, the staff suffered an enormous setback with World no. 58 Soumyajit Ghosh withdrawn from the squad owing to rape allegations and Sathiyan admits this changes the staff dynamics.
“Yes, this is a big loss,” he said. “In the staff tournament he was once one of the primary participants. But, we can have to modify our methods. Sanil’s (Shetty) name has been proposed, but there are relatively a few formalities to be accomplished before he can sign up for the squad, so we hope that it works out in time for him. And if he isn't there, we can have play with just four participants within the staff.”
CWG 2018: Sathiyan confident of three TT gold medals
![CWG 2018: Sathiyan confident of three TT gold medals]()
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March 31, 2018
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