Pune (Maharashtra) [India], July 21 : Star Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran went down fighting against the World No 23 Omar Assar in a nailbiting contest in the ongoing Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune on Friday.
Playing for Dabang Delhi TTC, Sathiyan took the first game with his swift movements before losing the match by 1-2 against the former ITTF African-Cup champion.
The franchise-based league, promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), has been a game-changer for Indian table tennis since its inception in 2017.
Sathiyan, who had defeated World No 58 Kirill Gerassimenko, continued his positive touch in the first game against the ace Egyptian paddler. He showcased immaculate precision in returning the strong shots of Omar before going into attacking mode and playing his forehands to take the opening game by 11-6.
The second game also went down to the wire as the Indian player gave his all to put Omar in trouble and made him sweat for every point with the use of forehand and backhand shots to good effect.
However, in the end, Omar held his nerve to reign supreme by 11-8 over the Chennai-based player. He channelled his top game in the third game and did not give any room to Sahityan before wrapping up the match with an 11-4 scoreline in the decider.
Later, Barbora Balazova of Dabang Delhi TTC beat Puneri Paltan Table Tennis' Hana Matelova 2-1. The Slovak paddler found it difficult to match the speed of Hana in the first game as she lost it by a heavy margin of 2-11. However, she made a strong comeback in the match and won the next two games through golden points.
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