India's lone participant, Sathiyan gets a winning start at Table Tennis World Cup

Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran pulled off a brilliant comeback to beat French opponent Simon Gauzy 4-3 (11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8) in the first group stage match of the 2019 ITTF World Cup in Chengdu, China. Sathiyan, who made his debut at the World Cup, had not beaten the 12th seed Gauzy in their three previous meetings. But Sathiyan showed his composure and found an edge after seven rounds.

The Indian men's table tennis team recently achieved their highest-ever world rankings earlier this month, when they broke into the top ten to be ranked ninth, and the fans have another reason to cheer as for India's highest-ranked paddler Sathiyan.

He will now take on Sweden's Jonathan Groth in his second Group D game of the preliminary round later on Friday. Sathiyan had qualified for the World Cup by virtue of finishing sixth in the Asian Cup that was held in Japan in April. To prepare for the World Cup, the 26-year old trained with Shen Yaohuan of China to improve and understand his game better.

Sathiyan's steady rise and his stint with German Bundesliga league

Sathiyan got his first-ever pro title in 2016, when he won the Belgium Open table tennis competition, and his game has seen a steady rise since. It was also the second time that an Indian won an ITTF title. The following year, he put up consistent showings and his efforts were rewarded when he returned with three medals in the Commonwealth Games last year, including a gold in the team event.

However, the highlight of his career came last August when he signed up with German Bundesliga's top division club ASV Grunwettersbach Tischtennis, also hailed as the most prestigious league in the world. He became only the second Indian to sign up with a club in Germany, after India's Sharath Kamal.

The experience that he garnered contributed to a stellar 2019. After coming sixth in the Asian Cup, he broke into the top 25 to be ranked 24th - the first-ever Indian to break into the top 25 in the world rankings. He was awarded yet another top honour in September when ITTF hailed Sathiyan as the biggest star of the Asian Table Tennis Championships that were held in Indonesia.

The Chennai-born table tennis player went down fighting in the quarterfinals of the event, as he lost in four sets to China's Lin Gaoyuan. It was also the second time after Sudhir Phadke in 1976 that an Indian reached the singles quarters of the Asian Championships.