Indian Table Tennis sensation Gnansekaran Sathiyan claimed his maiden national championship title after he got the better of long-time rival Achanta Sharath Kamal, at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium, in Panchkula. Previously, Manika Batra emerged victorious in the women’s singles days before that.
Even though Gnansekaran Sathiyan has been the poster boy of Indian Table Table for the past few years, a national championship title eluded him. The world no. 37 was up against 9-time national winner and one of India’s finest paddlers – Achanta Sharath Kamal in an all-Chennai final at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, in Panchkula, on Tuesday.
Aiming for glory, Sathiyan stormed through the first two games, while the three-time Olympian managed to stage a comeback and pull two games. But, the former hardly set a foot wrong from thereon, claiming the fifth and sixth game to lay hand on the silverware. The final score of the match read – 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, with the tournament producing a new champion.
Previously, Manika Batra claimed her second women’s singles title with a win over Reeth Rishya with scores of 8-11, 10-12, 11-1, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, in the summit clash. Having lost the first two games, the top-ranked Indian came back extraordinarily to have the last laugh.
