Birmingham: A fist pump in the air and an exult later not only calmed the jangled nerves following the first win but set the tone for what was to come. A Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Just to get some perspective, the duo of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai beat Koen Pang/Izaac Quek 13-11, 11-7, 11-5 in the first Gold medal match last night.
The Indian Table Tennis team went on to trump Singapore 3-1 and retained their Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The happiness when Harmeet Desai after winning the final game hopped onto Sharath Kamal before the players huddled up while the crowd lustily clapped reflected the game, once under shadows, was on the rise in India.
G Sathiyan in an exclusive conversation with ETV Bharat Read: INTERVIEW: 'Aggressive' Sathiyan confident of CWG medal after lessons from Tokyo Olympics
And Sathiyan has "no words" to describe his feelings as his emotions traverse from "sweet win" to the dominant way they defeated the Singaporeans while talking to ETV Bharat from Birmingham. His first words: No words to describe how I am feeling.
Sathiyan takes a pause to gather his emotions. He goes on to provide a more bona fide quote a journalist requires. "Extremely happy with the win today. It was very sweet that we could defend our title. It was a huge win for all of us in a dominant way, winning Nigeria and then registering a victory over young Singapore was fantastic."
India has been a dominant force ever since the sport was included in 2002. This was India's seventh gold medal in the Games among which Sathiyan has been involved in two golds now. And the paddler does realise the monumental feat the team has achieved and what it will do for the sport in India that has seen a gradual rise in its trajectory.
"It's one of the very special moments for all of us and certainly the Commonwealth Games is very special for Table Tennis especially being a stepping stone of success. We are a very dominant force in the Commonwealth. It was very important to stand with authority. I am very happy with my Gold medal and it's my second Gold in the second Commonwealth Games."
He adds, "This will put a lot of faith in the entire Table Tennis fraternity, give them hope, and set a huge benchmark for the future generations to come. The way we have been performing on the world stage, we will certainly motivate the youngsters. They will be inspired to perform even better."
On his own performance
In his previous interview with this website, Sathiyan did talk about a massive dissection that went into his game after the Tokyo Olympics along with his coach Subramaniam Raman which resulted in bringing aggression to the way he plays. The new approach was for everyone to see -- from smashing the ball hard to sometimes going for forehand top spins -- in the third game where Sathiyan was under pressure to provide his team the lead over Singapore.
"I have played one of my best Table Tennis this year. I could deliver under pressure. The doubles that we started went off really well. It was a crucial match. With 1-1, I knew it was a high-pressure match and I had to deliver to put my team back into the lead. I brought out my best Table Tennis under pressure today during a big moment. I played quite aggressively from the beginning and that was the key to staying aggressive and making some changes throughout so that I could bring out my best Table Tennis."
And as Sathiyan is ecstatic about this win, he still has individual matches to go for and he signs off with a message to the fans and followers cheering for the Table Tennis contingent in Birmingham: "I will give my best. This win, I dedicate to everyone supporting us back home."
Ayushmaan Pandey
