Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s dream run at the International Table Tennis Federation Men’s World Cup came to an end after India’s top-ranked paddler went down to former world number one Timo Boll in China on Saturday.
The world No 30 Sathiyan, making his World Cup debut, went down 1-4 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11) to the German in the pre-quarters.
Sathiyan started on a bright note, taking a 1-0 lead, but the experienced Boll replied quickly to level the match. The two-time World Cup champion then dominated the tie, winning the next three games without much trouble.
On Friday, Sathiyan had defeated higher ranked Frenchman Simon Gauzy 11-13, 9-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8 before beating world number 24 Groth Jonathan of Denmark 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2, to top his group and reach the round of 16.
With PTI Inputs
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