Hyderabad: Having experienced the highs and the lows of the game, G Sathiyan has evolved as player. He is more analytical and thrives on mistakes he does in his game, rectifies it and plays the next match with a better version of himself. Interacting with ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview over telephone, Sathiyan speaks about his learnings from the sport, a phase when he wanted to leave the game and why detachment from the sport can be required at times.
Excerpts:
Q. You have seen the highs -- during Tokyo Olympics and Commonwealth Games very recently, and the lows, what has wins and losses taught you?
A. It's a part and parcel of every sportsperson's life to see the highs and lows and to see the wins and losses. Certainly, I have seen it all and coming back from losses has always been my strength. I have come back strongly from tough losses. I think I have played really well after the Tokyo Olympics' loss and learnt from that loss. You are disappointed but it's important to work on what went wrong and have an analytical mind rather than just being sad. We always sit down and chart down the map, keep improving and be more proactive. Even in wins, it's important to take the factors which helped you and think what went right and try to do that again. It's a big learning curve in both wins and losses, especially losses. It teaches you a lot. I have been a constant learner and tried to always bring something new into the game and keep fighting, no matter what. It has really helped me. Playing in big tournaments has made me mentally strong to compete in big games. It has given me the mental energy and strength after the Tokyo Olympics. It has helped me to put a strong performance in the Commonwealth Games and the performance after that has also been really good.
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Q. When have you hit the lowest point in your career and how did you deal with it?
A. I am not sure if I have really hit the lowest point. My performance in the last few years have always been consistent. There have been one or two bad losses but never been playing bad for months together. It has never happened. We have been more proactive and constantly looking to improve and change things and not just let it go. It's about constantly bringing new additions to your strokes and your fitness regime and diet. It helps you to keep improving, but if you have to point out one, it was the transition from junior to senior, it was that time when I felt it took some time. I was really good in juniors. Because of engineering, in 2012, probably was the lowest point in my career as of now where I was confused between academics and sports and I couldn't make it to the Men's category. I was struggling and even thought of quitting to get into academic side but things worked really well later on.
Listen in to the audio for the full interview...
