Star paddler G. Sathiyan has won quite a few laurels for the country — two International Pro tour titles, the first Indian to break into the world top-25, a men’s team gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a men’s team bronze in the Asian Games.
Elusive crown
What has, however, eluded him is the men’s singles title at the National table tennis championships. Sathiyan has lost thrice each in the final and in the semifinals.
The senior Nationals to be held in Panchkula (Haryana) from February 14 to 23, presents Sathiyan the best chance to win his first title, according to coach S. Raman.
Raman, an Olympian and four-time men’s National singles champion, said this is the first time that Sathiyan has spent a considerable (three weeks) time in Chennai to fine-tune his game.
“To be honest, it is the first time he (Sathiyan) has spent more time in Chennai. Earlier, he used to play in a pro tour or a pre-Olympics. This time, he has got a reasonable opportunity to train in the city,” said Raman.
“In the bio-bubble era where he has to return immediately after playing abroad, it has turned out to be advantageous. He has acclimated to the Indian conditions well.
“We are driving the idea that this year we can have a go at the National title given the fact that there are good players.
Sathiyan said he will give his best. “Definitely, Nationals is quite an important tournament, which is on my bucket list. I will try my best. This is a special year as due to COVID there are only singles this time and moreover there will be less exposure to the table before we start playing.
“It will be a different Nationals, which will be mentally more challenging. We have to adapt quickly to the conditions.
“That’s one of the reasons why I got the table so that I can train well,” said Sathiyan, after inaugurating the ‘Sathiyan TT Hall’ at his father’s house, here on Sunday.
He expressed his desire of making it a double. “I hope I can tick both my boxes of winning the Nationals and secure a berth for the Olympics,” said Sathiyan.
