ITTF Men's World Cup: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran overcomes higher-ranked opponents in group stage to clinch round of 16 berth

Chengdu: India’s G Sathiyan won both his group matches against higher-ranked opponents to enter the round of 16 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men’s World Cup here on Friday. The world number 30 Sathiyan defeated Frenchman Simon Gauzy, ranked eight places above him, 4-3 in an energy-sapping first match before a 4-2 win over world number 24 Groth Jonathan of Denmark. [caption id=“attachment_7717561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] G Sathiyan won both his group matches against higher-ranked opponents to enter the round of 16. Image: Twitter @ittfworld[/caption] The Indian topped group D standings with four points to book a pre-quarterfinal berth. In his first match of the day against Gauzy, Sathiyan was down two sets but made an impressive recovery to win the match 11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8. Against Jonathan, the top Indian paddler dominated the match with and scored an 11-3, 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 8-11, 11-8 win. The round of 16 matches will be played on Saturday.