Table Tennis sensation G Sathiyan becomes first Indian to break into top 25 of ITTF Rankings

Continuing with his rapid rise in the world of Table Tennis, India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran breached the top 25 of the latest International Table Tennis Federation Rankings on Monday, becoming the first Indian to do so in the process. The Chennai born Sathiyan was earlier ranked 28th and moved four places up to occupy the 24th position in the recent rankings. He is the only Indian in the top 25 of the recently released rankings. The only other Indian beside him in the top 50 is Sharath Kamal Achanta, occupying the 46th place in the list.

Expressing his delight on getting to his career-best ranking, the 26-year-old said. “I am extremely glad and satisfied to have achieved this. It’s been years of hard work and it makes me happy to see it pay off. The entire focus, however, is to strive harder and keep bringing laurels for the country on the global stage.”

Sathiyan’s ascension through the ranks has been a rapid one and in less than 18 months, the Arjuna Awardee of year 2018 has worked his way from being outside top 100 in the ITTF rankings to become the first Indian to make it to top 25 in the rankings. Earlier this year, the paddler had expressed his desire of finishing in top 15 of ITTF rankings before the end of 2019.

Sathiyan booked a berth at the World Cup after finishing sixth in the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup held in Yokohama last month where he enjoyed success against World No. 14 Chun Ting Wong of Hong Kong. The left-hander will have a good chance of improving his ranking in the coming months as he will be seen in action in seven Pro Tours, Ultimate Table Tennis League and the Commonwealth Championships before the World Cup, which will be held in Chengdu, China from October 18 to 20.