2018 Commonwealth Games: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran confident of three Table Tennis gold medals

NEW DELHI: The Indian table tennis contingent heads to the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia with its best ever squad and leading the charge is the 25-year-old Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Ranked 49th in the world, the Chennai-based paddler is India’s best bet for not just a podium finish, but a gold in individual and in men’s doubles (with Achanta Sharath Kamal) events.
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Historically, Indian paddlers have done well at the CWG since its inception in 2002, claiming a total of 12 medals, but the previous edition at Glasgow proved rather 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 changed drastically and Sathiyan believes that the current squad has what it takes to deliver the goods.
“We can get up to five or six medals. We all feel we are at our best and we have a wonderful team,” he told TOI in an interview. “We are very confident and will make this the best Commonwealth Games. Hopes are high.”
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For long, Sharath Kamal (World no. 71) had been Indian table tennis’ flag-bearer, but now, the country has eight players in the top 100 (six in senior men and two in senior women). In the Under-21 rankings, there are seven players (two in men and five in women) in the top 100 bracket.
CWG debut
For Sathiyan - a Youth Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 2008 - the 2018 CWG will be, surprisingly, his first major multi-sport event. In 2010, he was ranked sixth among the Indians and thus missed out on CWG selection, and in 2014 he had to choose his engineering examinations over the pro tours. Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he went through one of the toughest phases of his life, when he lost his father.
The engineering graduate fought through the difficult times and success followed. “Losing my father was tough, but that made me stronger and I am making better decisions now,” he said. “It is wonderful, going in for my debut (CWG) Games. I am high on confidence as I have got good ranking and I will be seeded high as well.”
Sathiyan’s career graph skyrocketed after he won the 2016 Belgium Open - only the second Indian player to win an ITTF singles event. Then 2017 proved to be a stellar year as he claimed bronze in Thailand, Belgium, Sweden and silver in Bulgaria and also won the Spanish Open.
“2017 was a year big for me. Belgium 2016 was close to my heart but it was the Spanish Open win that really helped my confidence,” he said.
For his achievements in 2017, the 25-year-old was 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 will be returning with more than one medal from Gold Coast. “Three yellows, that is my aim,” he said. “Yes, there is a lot of excitement, but I also know that I should not be taking too much pressure. Pressure is there and people have expectations, but I am focussing on playing a normal tournament.”
There are three others players ranked higher than him in 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 much.
“Singles won’t be easy, with a lot of top players, but on any given day, you play well and there is every chance to beat 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 biggest competitors,” said Sathiyan.
Doubles with Sharath
India have been looking for a stable men’s doubles pair for a long time and it seems they have finally got one with Sathiyan teaming up with the veteran Sharath Kamal. The duo enjoyed success in reaching the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open and that has raised hopes of a good showing from the pair in Australia.
“In doubles, Sharath and I have been playing a lot of pro tours and are playing together well. We took a lot of time to settle down, we tried a lot of combinations. In doubles, we not only need to understand each other, but our game styles have to suit each other too. So, we played a lot of tournaments with different partners, finally it came down to us playing together,” said Sathiyan about the association.
He continued: “Playing with Sharath is a great opportunity. He is a legendary player with so much of experience and things are much more easier playing with him. He is open to new ideas and that is a very big advantage. He makes you comfortable and we are gelling together well.”
“We have beaten the English pair of Pitchford and Drinkhall twice last year, so that gives us a lot of confidence. They are one of the best pairs in the fray,” he added.
Soumyajit setback
Leading up to the Games, the team suffered a huge setback with World no. 58 Soumyajit Ghosh withdrawn from the squad owing to rape allegations and Sathiyan admits this changes the team dynamics.
“Yes, it is a big loss,” he said. “In the team event he was one of the main members. But, we will have to change our strategies. Sanil’s (Shetty) name has been proposed, but there are quite a few formalities to be done before he can join the squad, so we are hoping that it works out in time for him. And if he is not there, we will have play with just four members in the team.”