Commonwealth Games 2018: Confident Sathiyan Gnanasekaran forms crucial part of Indian table tennis team

Name: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran Age: 25 Sport: Table tennis Category: Men’s team, Men’s singles, Men’s doubles Past CWG performances: Debut Best performance: Belgium (2016) and Spanish Open (2017) Pro Tour winner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is aiming for gold in his debut Commonwealth Games, . It’s not a surprise. He has been riding a massive  crest in the last one year. He has been in form of his life and he will be the top ranked Indian (49) heading into the Games. Hailing from a middle-class family, Sathiyan took up Engineering as a career option but soon he realised that it was not his destiny, table tennis was as he juggled between studies and the sport. His conservative background meant that safety-first approach was the need of the hour. So he had to complete his degree first while not going full throttle in the sport. It did cost him crucial headstart but his hard work and determination to succeed has fast-tracked his progress in the last one year. The hardwork, however had begun six years back when he started training under coach Subramaniam Raman, former India player and an Arjuna awardee. He instilled positivity and confidence which proved to be crucial. [caption id=“attachment_4415265” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Art by Rajan Gaikwad[/caption] Sathiyan’s turning point came in 2016 when he became the second Indian player after Sharath Kamal to win a Pro Tour as he clinched the Belgium Open. That win shot him into the limelight. However, seven months later the self doubts crept up again as the 25-year-old hit a roadblock at the Asian Championships where he thought he couldn’t go one step further. This is where Raman again came to his rescue and advised Sathiyan to take calculated risks which he was afraid of in the past. The Chennai boy slowly started employing those tactics and the results started to show. He also grew stronger in his doubles game as he won the Belgium and Sweden Opens forming a strong pair with veteran Sharath Kamal. Sathiyan found his mojo again and in November 2017, and became the first Indian to win two Pro Tour titles when he clinched the Spanish Open. In the space of eight months he went from 125 in the world to 49, jumping 76 places and in process, becoming just the second Indian after Sharath to enter the top-50 in the world. Sathiyan’s greatest strength is his aggression and his quick reflexes. The newly-achieved confidence makes him a dangerous prospect for the opponents as he enters the Games. “It’s really good that I could peak at the right time,” Sathiyan told Firstpost. “Coming into the games I will feel more confident in not worrying about the results and I already know that I am playing at a certain level. The preparation has been excellent with a lot of pro tours, camps, skill training and fitness training. We have just not left anything unturned.” Sathiyan will be a crucial part of the Indian team. He is a medal prospect in men’s singles and doubles and also a vital cog in the men’s team event. It this confidence that helps him dream of gold in his first big global tournament at senior level. “I definitely feel that we have a very good chance (of a gold) in the team and personally also I feel I have a very good chance of winning a gold medal in the singles,” he said. Click  here  to read profiles of other Indian athletes involved in the Commonwealth Games 2018