Sathiyan loses to Timo Boll in pre-quarters of Table Tennis World Cup

India's ace paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran showed some might but falls short against Germany's fifth-seeded and world no. 8 Timo Boll by 1-4 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11) in the Round of 16 of the 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup taking place in Chengdu, China. Sathiyan became the second Indian to ever reach the pre-quarterfinals of the Table Tennis World Cup. Earlier, Achanta Sharath Kamal in 2014 had reached the knock-outs.

Satjiyan managed to win the first game with his flurry of smashes which forced the German to go with long returns. However, Timo, who is a two-time Men's World Cup champion and appearing in his 16th Men's World Cup, showcased his brilliance to dominate the rest of the tie without leaving the Indian an inch.

The 26-year-old India reached the knock-outs stage of ITTF World Cup on Friday as he defeated Denmark’s Jonathan Groth 4-2 (11-3, 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 8-11, 11-8) in his second Group D game of the preliminary round.

Earlier he staged a stirring 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.

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. 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.