Sathiyan marches into WC pre-quarters after edging big fish

Indian paddler G Sathiyan won both his group matches against higher-ranked opponents to enter the round of 16 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men’s World Cup on Friday. The World No. 30 Sathiyan defeated Frenchman Simon Gauzy, ranked eight places above him, 4-3 in an energy-sapping first match before a 4-2 win over World No. 24 Groth Jonathan of Denmark.

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The Tamil Nadu paddler topped Group D standings with four points to book a pre-quarterfinal berth. In his first match of the day against Gauzy, Sathiyan was down two sets but bounced back to win the match 11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8. Against Groth Jonathan, the 26-year-old dominated the match throughout to clinch an 11-3, 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 8-11, 11-8 victory. The round of 16 matches will be played on Saturday.