Chengdu: Star Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran stormed into the main draw of the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men’s World Cup after winning both his group matches on Friday.
In his first match, Sathiyan defeated Simon Gauzy of France 4-3 (11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8) to register his maiden victory over the French paddler.
The 17th seed was trailing 0-2 in the match. However, the World No. 30 made a stunning comeback to upset the World No. 22.
In the match that lasted for one hour and four minutes, Sathiyan showed immense quality at the table and the grit to do what he’s done. Gauzy looked like he was in control early on but the consistent backhand block and return shots from Gnanasekaran turned the match on its head.
In his second match, Sathiyan defeated World No. 24 Jonathan Groth of Denmark 4-2 (11-3, 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 8-11, 11-8).
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran set the tone from the start and ran through the points and the bagged the first game 11-3. Groth, ranked World No. 24, did try to gain some points but Sathiyan managed to win it 2-10.
The player from Denmark however, clinched the third game 11-7. But Sathiyan bounced back immediately in the next game winning it 14-16.
The Danish then came back to win the next game 11-8. However, he was made to pay for his string of errors as the Indian claimed game six 11-8 to top Group D and progress to the main draw. IANS