How Sathiyan changed his game to beat World No. 9 Dang Qiu at TT Worlds
How Sathiyan changed his game to beat World No. 9 Dang Qiu at TT Worlds: The trajectory of the situation was undoubtedly downward.
After losing the first two games 10-12, 7-11, to World No. 9 Germany’s Dang Qiu, it appeared like the European champions and World No. 2 side would even the tie 2-2 and push it to a final at the World Table Tennis Team Championships in Chengdu, China.
But the Indians were feeling well. Although National Games champion Harmeet Desai was defeated by Qiu 1-3 (7-11, 9-11, 13-11, 3-11) in the second match of the tie, India took a 2-1 lead thanks to Manav Thakkar’s 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10) victory over Ricardo Walther.
Thakkar had to come back from a two-game deficit to defeat the 36th-ranked Duda Benedikt.
The team’s captain, Sathiyan, knew they needed a miracle to win without 10-time national champion Sharath Kamal.
National coach S Raman, who had previously served as Sathiyan’s personal coach, saw that Qiu appeared a little uneasy during the first game when Sathiyan altered his tempo.
Statements
The only advice I got from Raman sir was to vary my serves and the tempo of the rallies. Sathiyan said to The Indian Express, “He basically motivated me, saying that I need to believe that I can win.”
Down 3-5 in the third game, Sathiyan began tossing in some atypical serves, which confused Qiu. He lost 11-8 because he was unprepared for Sathiyan’s shifts in strategy. The following match followed the same format. Sathiyan’s serves and reach were too much for Qiu, as the Indian evened the score.
Qiu may have been rattled, but he pulled himself together in time to prevent Sathiyan from taking control of the deciding game. Sathiyan did all his trainer recommended. He varied the tempo of the extended rallies, was able to reach and return Qiu’s thundering smashes, and consistently delivered a new and surprising serve.
The strategy worked. Germany and Qiu were both devastated. Sathiyan was flailing his arms in the air like a maniac. The significance of this to him was plain to observe. India had defeated the team that had placed second at the Tokyo Olympics, marking one of their most significant victory to date.
Declarations
It’s one of the most impressive wins we’ve had as a group. The credit for coming up with a strategy to counter each of our opponents belongs to Raman sir. Even when we were losing games, he continued telling us that we could win,” Sathiyan recalled.
ASV Grunwettersbach Tischtennis of the German Bundesliga was a big aid to the Tamil Nadu paddler in 2018, and the fact that Dang was on the same squad was a big one. So, he was aware of his abilities and the style of game he typically employs.
He’s made a lot of strides in his game since I last saw him play. In the wake of the pandemic, he’s upped his game considerably. One constant, though, is that he still holds the upper hand in a prolonged argument. Sathiyan reflected on this realization after the second match and vowed to “totally vary my game at every moment.”
When asked how this victory compared to others in his career, Sathiyan responded that he ranks it lower because his previous victory over then-current World No. 4 Tomokazu Harimoto at the 2019 Asian Championships was in vain.
Remarks
He reflected on the significance of the victory, saying, “This was exceptional since we not only won the match but the tie.”
With four points from two games, India is in a strong position to finish first in their group, which, according to Sathiyan, will offer them a significant edge in the postseason.
If we finish first in our group, we’ll face the team who came in second. He remarked, “That might work out really well for us.”
Monday, they’ll have a tough test in Kazakhstan before Tuesday’s final group game against France.
Women notch up 1st win
For the women, India’s 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic marked their first victory of the group round.
On Saturday, Manika Batra’s squad fell short to a German squad in a nail-biter.
Before Akula Sreeja and Diya Chitale won 3-0 and 3-1 against Marketa Sevcikova and Katerina Tomanovska, Manika overcame Hana Matelova 3-1 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10) in the opening singles match.