G. Sathiyan, seeded 10th, stunned fifth seed Wong Chun Ting of Taipei 12-10, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 in the playoff for 5-8 positions at the Asian Cup table tennis championship here on Saturday. The win helped Sathiyan qualify for the World Cup.
The 26-year-old will take on Yun-Ju Lin of Taipei for the 5-6 spots on Sunday.
Great feeling
Speaking to The Hindu, Sathiyan said he played his best at the Asian Cup, beating higher-ranked players like Taipei’s Chih-Yuan Chuang and Wong. “It is a great feeling to qualify for the World Cup and that too on World Table Tennis day,” said Sathiyan. “Overall, the tournament has been excellent. I am looking forward to the match against Lin and hope to finish No. 5.” In the morning, Olympic and World champion Ma Long of China had ended Sathiyan’s run in the quarterfinals. Long won 11-5, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3.
Earlier, the Indian had put it across Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 to make it to the last-eight stage.