WTT Contender Tunis 2021: Sathiyan storms into semi-finals in two categories

Indian paddler player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran had a field day at the World Table Tennis Contender tournament in Tunis 2021 on Thursday. The day belonged to Sathiyan as he stormed into the semi-finals in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles categories.

Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai defeated the Hungarian pair of Patrik Juhasz and Bence Majoros 3-1 (12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6). With this win, they entered the semi-finals in the men's doubles category.

The Indian pair will meet Hungary's Nandor Ecseki and Adam Szudi in the semi-finals. Incidentally, the pair of Ecseki and Szudi defeated another Indian pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manav Thakkar 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11).

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In the mixed doubles, Sathiyan, partnering with Manika Batra, overcame a stiff challenge from France's Alexandra Cassin and Prithika Pavade. The duo won their quarter-final match 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8).

Earlier, Sathiyan and Manika got the better of Argentina's Horacio Cifuentes and Camila Arguelles 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9) in the first round.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sathiyan defeated Alvaro Robles of Spain 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in the men's singles first round. He is slated to meet Senegal's Ibrahima Diaw in the men's singles second round, late Thursday.

Sathiyan: Only Indian to progress in singles

Meanwhile, in the men's singles Sathiyan was the only paddler to progress to the second round. This was after Achanta Sharath Kamal lost his first round match to Brazil's Vitor Ishiy 3-2 (5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10).

In the women's singles category, Manika Batra too tasted defeat in the hands of Nina Mittelham of Germany 3-1 (11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-3). Similarly, Selena Selvakumar, who came through the grinds of the qualifiers, too fell in the first round, losing to Egypt's Dina Meshref 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-4).