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Table Tennis

Tokyo Olympics, Table Tennis Day 2, July 25 - G. Sathiyan to debut, Manika to play Round 2 - Preview, schedule, LIVE streaming, where to watch

Set to debut at the Tokyo Olympics, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will hope to make an impact while Manika Batra will be keen on continuing historic run.

Sathiyan and Manika to lead Indias campaign at World Team Table Tennis Championships 2022
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Sathiyan and Manika to lead India's campaign at World Team Table Tennis Championships 2022

By

Sohinee Basu

Updated: 25 July 2021 7:23 AM GMT

It is set to be a power-packed day for Indian table tennis fans as Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran embark on their medal quest in Round 2 of their respective Singles events.

While the World No. 38 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is yet to play a match at the Tokyo Olympics, World No. 62 Manika Batra already produced a dominating performance in her first round match against Great Britain's Ho-Tin Tin.

A watershed moment occurred in Indian table tennis as women paddlers on Day 1 - Manika Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee won their opening round encounters to make it to the second round of the Tokyo Olympics. In doing so, Manika became the first woman paddler to end a 29 year match-winning drought in the Women's Singles and West Bengal's Sutirtha Mukherjee also joined that same celebration party soon.

Looking to continue the historic run, the 26th seeded Sathiyan Gnansekaran, who received a first round bye, will be eager to make a mark in his debut Men's Singles match at the Tokyo Olympics as he will face-off against Hong Kong's Lam Siu Hang in Round 2.

Seeded 50th at Tokyo, the World No. 95 player from Hong Kong doesn't have too much success to boast of against the talented Indian paddler. The 2016 Belgium Open and 2017 Spanish Open winner, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran holds a 2-0 lead over his 24-year-old opponent.

On the other hand, Manika Batra will have a tough job on her hands. Although she delivered a strong and confident performance in her Round 1 match against Ho-Tin Tin, winning in straight sets, 4-0, Batra's next opponent won't be so easy. Set to play against the 29-year-old Margaryta Pestotska from Ukraine, Manika Batra will need to have her guards up to continue her winning streak.

Batra, who is seeded as 32nd will need to tame the attacking 20th seeded Pestotska early to get a hold of the match. While it is just the second Olympics for Manika Batra, Pestotska had appeared in 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics (she had to sit out due to injury) and the Tokyo Olympics is the fourth one for Pestotska.

A 2-time silver medallist at the European Championships, Pestotska will be a tricky opponent to slay for the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Manika Batra.


Schedule and When to Watch?


The venue for all table tennis events at the Tokyo Olympics is going to be the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium where all the on-table action is expected to unfurl.


Men's Singles - Round 2


Sathiyan Gnanasekaran v Lam Siu Hang not before 10:30 AM IST on July 25, 2021


Women's Singles - Round 2

Manika Batra v Margaryta Pestotska not before 12:00 PM IST on July 25, 2021


Live Streaming and Where to Watch?


You can catch all the action LIVE on Sony Sports Network channels in India. You can also live stream it on the Sony LIV application or website if you have the required subscription. Alternatively, you can also watch the match on Doordarshan (DD) Sports in India.


Here are the details of broadcasters in some more countries:


Japan: The Japan Consortium


USA: NBC Universal


UK: BBC, Eurosport


China: CCTV


Australia: Seven Network


Germany: ARD-ZDF


Brazil: Grupo Globo, Bandsports


Spain: RTVE


Italy: RAI


France: Eurosport


South Africa: SABC

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