The Hindu : Sport : Sathiyan sails into quarterfinals

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Sathiyan sails into quarterfinals

Rakesh Rao

JAIPUR: Commonwealth Youth Games champion G. Sathiyan did his growing reputation a world of good by reaching the quarterfinals after a tactical 4-1 victory over DPR Korea’s Ri Kwang Won in the Asian junior table tennis championship at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Saturday.

On a day that Chinese Liu Yi knocked out Korea’s top-seeded boy Seo Hyun Deok in six games in the pre-quarterfinals, none of the three other Indian qualifiers — Soumyajit Ghosh, Raj Mondal and Ankita Das — could survive the first outing of the main draw against superior rivals.

Sathiyan’s 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9 triumph in just under half an hour was the only high point for the Indians in the knockout phase.

Ri Kwang Won, who qualified after upstaging fourth-ranked Japanese Koki Niwa 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 in the league, failed to gauge Sathiyan’s gameplan. The speed variation in Sathiyan’s returns forced the Korean to err repeatedly.

In the third game, the Korean tried to attack more while Sathiyan struggled to control his blocks. Thereafter, it was again Sathiyan who dominated the proceedings, dropping just three points in the fourth game.

In the fifth, from 7-7, Sathiyan reeled off the next three points with some deft placements. Won saved two matchpoints before Sathiyan took a timeout and sealed the match when his rival’s forehand return went wide. Sathiyan now plays the fifth seed from South Korea Kim Min Seok.

Earlier in the group league, Soumyajit gladdened the hearts of the home supporters when he bounced back from 4-8 in the deciding game to upstage China’s unranked entry Li Muqiao 14-12, 4-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9 and qualify.

Going by rankings, Soumyajit was seeded to qualify ahead of the Chinese boy. But beating a Chinese in any continental championship is something to be proud of and Soumyajit felt no different.

“My coach Bhawani Mukherjee told me to attack at every opportunity and the ploy worked. I gained from playing aggressively and, perhaps, surprised my rival. In the decider, after I took a time-out at 4-8, I went all out and that put pressure on the Chinese boy,” said Soumyajit, who won seven of the last eight points.

Ankita, as expected, made it to the main draw but could do little against the defensive Japanese rival Ayuka Tanioka and lost in straight games.

In the cadet section, all six Indian boys failed to get past the league stage while Mallika Bhandarkar and Camelia Sil qualified.

Though Camelia lost to China’s Liu Xi 11-9, 11-3, 11-2 in the round of 16, Mallika found herself in the quarterfinals after gaining a bye.

Should she beat Singapore’s Li Shyun Isabelle on Sunday morning and enter the semifinals, Mallika will also qualify for the World championship later this year.

The results (pre-quarterfinals):

Junior boys: Liu Yi (Chn) bt Seo Hyun Doek (Kor) 12-10, 9-11,11-5, 5-11, 11-2; Almaiyan Daronkolae (IRI) bt Kohei Morimoto (Jpn) 13-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7; Kim Min Seok (Kor) bt Zhai Chao (Chn) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8; G. Sathiyan (Ind) bt Ri Kwang Won (PRK) 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9; Yan An (Chn) bt Soumyajit Ghosh 11-8, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8; Jung Young Sik (Kor) bt Pang Xue Jie (Sin) 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6; Jin Ueda (Jpn) bt Raj Mondal (Ind) 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4; Chen Chien An (Tpe) bt Wong Chun Ting (HK) 11-8, 11-8, 13-11, 11-8.

Junior girls: Cheng I-Ching (Tpe) bt Hwang Ji Na (Kor) 4-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-5; Xue Siyu (Chn) bt Megumi Okazaki (Jpn) 11-3, 4-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-6; Che Xiaoxi (Chn) bt Lee Ho Ching (HK) 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6; Misaki Morizono (Jpn) bt O Un Jong (PRK) 14-12, 7-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4; Sheng Dandan (Chn) bt Kim Hye Song (PRK) 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11; Ayuka Tanioka (Jpn) bt Ankita Das (Ind) 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8; Ng Wing Nam (HK) bt Yu So Ra (Kor) 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-4, 11-8; Cao Lisi (Chn) bt Rika Suzuki (Jpn) 11-3, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7.

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