Sathiyan reaches knock-outs of Table Tennis World Cup

India's top-ranked paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 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.

Sathiyan, appearing in his maiden World Cup, had not beaten the 14th-seeded Groth in their three previous meetings. But Sathiyan displayed his dominance to take the game out of his Danish rival's hands.

Earlier the 26-year-old 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, and the fans have another reason to cheer as for India’s highest-ranked paddler Sathiyan. 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.