Sathiyan Knocked Out in 2nd Round After Spirited Display at Tokyo Olympics

Rank 37 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost to rank 95 in round two of the Tokyo Olympics

Sathiyan let go of a 3-1 lead in Round 32 of Tokyo Olympics 2020

IOC

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 4-3 in a close encounter in Round two of Men's Singles event in Table Tennis against Lam Siu Hang at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The duo were locked in an intense battle for more than an hour.

He was trailing after the first game but recovered quickly and won the next 3 on the bounce with some fantastic counter-attacking play.

Siu Hang however made a tremendous comeback and equaled 3-3 after losing three straight games. This took the match into a nail-biting decider.

The opening game was close, but the Hong Kong player used his forehand to pull away from a 6-6 tie. Quickly, Sathiyan shifted gears after the first game. He not only defended well, but he also tied the game when Lam delivered a powerful forehand return.

In Games 3 and 4, Sathiyan maintained his tempo, gaining a 3-1 lead and putting himself in pole position to advance to the next round on his Olympic debut.

However, in Game 5, Siu Hang made a great comeback and was able to peg back Sathiyan and stretching the contest further, much to the Indian's dislike.

After a timeout, Lam took a 5-2 lead in the decider with a powerful forehand winner. Gnanasekaran was soon down 6-9 and on match point, he had hit a forehand out. When Sathiyan made a backhand mistake, Lam clinched the victory.