Latest news with #Sathiyan
News18
3 days ago
- Sport
- News18
UTT Season 6: Sathiyan And Diya Lead Dabang Delhi To 11-4 Win Over Patriots
Sathiyan, participating in his sixth consecutive season with Dabang Delhi, started strong by defeating Jeet Chandra 3-0 in Match 4, Game 2, ensuring a tie win for Delhi. Diya, this season's highest-valued Indian player, followed with a solid 2-1 win over World No. 43 Britt Eerland, showcasing a strong performance by the Season 2 champions. Organized by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani, the IndianOil UTT continues to expand as a premier professional league. All 23 ties will be held over 16 days at Ahmedabad's EKA Arena, with tickets available exclusively on BookMyShow. UTT Season 6 kicked off with an exciting match between USA's three-time Olympian Kanak Jha and Singapore's 19-year-old Izaac Quek. Despite Kanak's higher ranking and strong start, Izaac secured a 2-1 victory for Dabang Delhi with powerful backhand smashes. Jaipur's Sreeja Akula made a comeback against Maria Xiao, overcoming an initial seven-point deficit to win 2-1 with the season's first Golden Point. In mixed doubles, the new pairing of Sathiyan and Maria clicked immediately, winning 11-6, 11-10, 11-6 for Delhi. Building on this momentum, Sathiyan and Diya Chitale clinched the final two matches, securing a dominant victory for Delhi. Sathiyan was awarded the Indian Player of the Tie for his clean sweep over Jeet, while Maria received both the Foreign Player of the Tie and Shot of the Tie awards. Earlier, in the Dream UTT Juniors, both Maharashtra teams secured narrow 5-4 wins. U Mumba TT narrowly defeated Stanley's Chennai Lions with key victories from Prateek Tulsani and Ananya Muralidharan, while PBG Pune Jaguars triumphed over Kolkata ThunderBlades with a strong doubles performance by Atharva Nawarange and Tushti Sood. Izaac Quek bt. Kanak Jha 2-1 (5-11, 11-5, 11-9) Maria Xiao lost to Sreeja Akula 1-2 (11-4, 9-11, 10-11) Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Maria Xiao bt. Kanak Jha/Sreeja Akula 3-0 (11-6, 11-10, 11-6) Sathiyan Gnanasekaran bt. Jeet Chandra 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-6) Diya Chitale bt. Britt Eerland 2-1 (11-8, 11-7, 8-11)
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Amalraj highlights need for professional table tennis leagues in the country
Former India table tennis player Anthony Amalraj, speaking at the launch of the fourth edition of the Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) here on Wednesday, highlighted the need for professional leagues to grow the sport in India. 'In Europe, we've always had a league system. But in India, we mostly had a tournament system, and there's a huge difference between the two. In a tournament, if you lose once, you're out — it's over. 'But in a league, players get chances to bounce back, to take advice, and to improve. Financial stress is also lower in leagues because of sponsor support,' Amalraj said. The TTSL is Ultimate Table Tennis' (UTT) grassroots development tournament. The Tamil Nadu edition will feature six teams — Jeppiar Jaguars, Leo Legends, DRA Dragons, SSVM Smashers, Vibe Victors, and E Daddy Warriors. Amalraj added that Indian players' performances have improved since the advent of the UTT. 'Leagues are more professional. Since UTT started in 2017, India's performance has seen a shift — our women's team reached the Olympic quarterfinals, and now Indian players have the confidence to take on top nations like China and Japan,' he said. A silver-medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Amalraj said that establishing such leagues will boost the player pools across States. 'Only Sathiyan from Tamil Nadu made it to the World Championships this time. 'But see, we're not like China, where lakhs of people play table tennis. It's not like asking, 'when will we get the next Virat Kohli in cricket?' Because lakhs play cricket, you have a bigger pool. In table tennis, the player base is smaller. It takes time. After I came, Sathiyan came 3–4 years later. So it's a gradual process,' he added.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Initiatives like Table Tennis Super League needed to grow the sport: Anthony Amalraj
Former India table tennis player Anthony Amalraj, speaking at the launch of the fourth edition of Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) in Chennai on Wednesday, highlighted the need for professional leagues to grow the sport in India. 'In Europe, we've always had a league system. But in India, we mostly had a tournament system, and there's a huge difference between the two. In a tournament, if you lose once, you're out—it's over. But in a league, players get chances to bounce back, to take advice, and to improve. Financial stress is also lower in leagues because of sponsor support,' Amalraj said. The TTSL is Ultimate Table Tennis' (UTT) grassroots development tournament. The Tamil Nadu leg will feature six teams—Jappier Jaguars, Leo Legends, DRA Dragons, SSVM Smashers, Vibe Victors, and E Daddy Warriors. Amalraj added that Indian players' performances have improved since the advent of the UTT. 'Leagues are more professional. Since UTT started in 2017, India's performance has seen a shift—our women's team reached the Olympic quarterfinals, and now Indian players have the confidence to take on top nations like China and Japan,' he said. A silver-medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Amalraj said that establishing such leagues will boost the player pools across states. 'Only Sathiyan from Tamil Nadu made it to the World Championships this time. But see, we're not like China, where lakhs of people play table tennis. It's not like asking, 'when will we get the next Virat Kohli in cricket?' Because lakhs play cricket, you have a bigger pool. In table tennis, the player base is smaller. It takes time. After I came, Sathiyan came 3–4 years later. So it's a gradual process,' he added.
New Indian Express
04-05-2025
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Hungry to make comeback, focus on training: Sathiyan
CHENNAI: It has not been easy days after 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023). Like all players, G Sathiyan too had to overcome the ordeal of recovering from injury with a very strong mind. His back injury he sustained after the Asian Games in Hangzhou took some time to heal. The spasms spread to his hips and his knees restricting the lightning pace for which he is known. He did manage to leave those tough days behind. After winning three medals at the National Games earlier this year, Sathiyan is slowly shifting his focus towards the all-important Asian Games next year. And like he said he is now hungry to make a comeback. Sathiyan for now is focussing more on training. He would be competing more towards the end of the year leading up the Asian Games next year. "I have taken a conscious decision to train more and play less tournaments (now)," he said adding he would want "to play more tournaments in the second half of the year just before the Asian Games. This will help in peaking at the right time," he told this daily during an award function organised by Raman TT High Performance Centre to felicitate National Games winning members of the Tamil Nadu team.
