Sathiyan Gnanasekaran signs with Japanese T-League side

The country’s highest-ranked paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on February 8 announced on Twitter that he has signed with Japanese T-League side Okayama Rivets for the 2020-21 season.

“Extremely happy to share that I will be the first Indian paddler to be a part of the prestigious Japanese professional T-League,” Sathiyan wrote on his handle.

"I will also train there. I am looking forward and that this step will help me improve and take my game to the next level,” he told Sportstar.

Sathiyan will begin training with the Japanese team from September 2020 at the end of the Ultimate Table Tennis season. The switch comes after two good seasons in Germany where he won the German Cup with his club ASV Grunwettersbasch last month.

Sathiyan, who was far from the top-100 bracket until a few months ago, is the highest ranked Indian right now at 25.
“It’s a great privilege to be the first Indian to break into the top 25 in international table tennis, but I think this is just the beginning and it is not a surprise for me personally and my team. We have been working constantly to be there and I think this will set a good benchmark for the future table tennis generation,” said Sathiyan in an exclusive interview with the Olympic Channel.

The 27-year-old is a recipient of the TOISA Table Tennis player of the year award 2018 (Jury choice) and the prestigious Arjuna award in 2018.