Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is an Indian table tennis player and the first Indian paddler to reach the World Top 25 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings in 2019. He was at 24th position in the World rankings in 2019.
He is currently ranked at 37 in the world as of September 2022. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back Gold medals in 2018 & 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran's Bio and Early Life
- Name : Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
- Birthday : 8th Jan, 1993
- Height : 1.68m
- Sport : Table Tennis
- Highest World Ranking : 24
- Father Name : Not Known
- Mother Name : Malarkodi Gnanasekaran
- Education Qualification : B.Tech
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran joined table tennis training as a hobby at school and he started competing in inter school competitions.
During one of such competitons the former Indian table tennis player and Arjuna awardee Subramanian Raman noticed his skills. Subramanian Raman encouraged him to play table tennis tournaments while he was pursuing his Engineering degree.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran's Achievements
He began his training under Subramanian Raman's guidance and participating in state and national levels. He made his international debut in 2011 World Junior Championships and won a bronze medal for the team.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran faced many difficulties in moving from junior level to senior level games and did not received his breakthrough point in the senior level competitions. He went Germany to get proper training.
In September 2016 he won the ITTF Challenge Belgium Open title in the Men's Singles. This was his first ITTF pro tour title. He became the first Indian table tennis player to win an ITTF event on European soil.
2017 had been a special year for Sathiyan Gnanasekaran as he won the gold medal in TT singles at the ITTF challenge in Belgium. Later, in the same year he won a bronze medal in Men's Doubles at ITTF Major in Sweden and then we won a silver medal at ITTF Challenge in Bulgaria.
In 2017, he won his second gold medal in singles at ITTF challenge in Spain and become the first Indian table tennis player to won two pro titles.
In 2018 Commonwealth Games that held in Gold Cost, Australia, he won the Gold, Silver, Bronze medals in the Men's team, Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. In August 2018, he won both of his matches against Japan in the Men's Team category quarterfinals and won a historic bronze medal at the Asian Games 2018 held at Jakarta for the first time ever after a gap of 60 years.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran pulled off the biggest win of his career by defeating the Japanese prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto in straight sets at the Asian TT Championships 2019. In the same event, he become the first Indian ever after a gap of 43 years to reach the Quarterfinals in Men Singles category.
On November 29, 2019 Sathiyan made his World Cup Debut and defeated French player Simon Gauzy and Jonathan Groth of Denmark, to top his group and reach the round of 16 in 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup.
In 2020, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran participated in Men's Double ITTF World Tour Championships in Hungary with his partner Achanta Sharad Kamal and won silver medal.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Unfortunately he lost the second round of the Olympics.
He won three medals with Gold in Men's Team, Silver in Men's Doubles and also a Bronze in Men's Singles in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
He has a regular job at as a Senior Executive Human Resources at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd in Chennai. He is currently being supported by the GoSports Foundation under the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is the captain of men's team in ongoing ITTF World Team Championships Finals 2022, at Chengdu, China. He helps India stunning win over World No.2 Germany in ITTF World Team Championships Finals 2022.
Awards
Arjuna Award in 2018
TOISA Table Tennis player of the year award 2017 (Jury choice)
