Dealing with my father’s death has made me stronger mentally, says G Sathiyan

Dealing with my father’s death has made me stronger mentally, says G Sathiyan

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TT player G Sathiyan has stated that overcoming the sudden demise of his father, which prevented him from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has made him stronger mentally. Sathiyan has also added that he aims for nothing but gold and is confident that the team is capable of winning the same.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, or G Sathiyan as he is more commonly known as, recently surpassed the legendary Sharath Kamal, to be the highest-ranked Indian in the International Table Tennis rankings when he overtook Kamal to be ranked at 49 in the overall list. Sathiyan has come a long way ever since the death of his father before the 2016 Rio Olympics because of which he could not participate in the event.

However, Sathiyan said that his father’s demise was an important point in his career which has only helped him train harder and made him stronger from a psychological point of view.

"I couldn't participate in Rio as I had to play one tournament but my father passed away at exactly the same time. Dealing with that has made me stronger mentally. I thought nothing can be more difficult than this," Sathiyan told PTI.

"It helped me face challenges and top players in crucial points and games. I improved, I was more hungry to succeed and started looking beyond not just being on the team but becoming a medal prospect," Sathiyan said while recalling the trauma he went through when his father V Gnanasekaran passed away.

Sathiyan has bounced back strongly since that life-changing event, as he received the TOISA Table Tennis player of the year award 2018 recently as well. Sathiyan was adamant that when the current Table Tennis squad travel to Gold Coast, they will have only one aim in mind - to win Gold.

"It's a great a team and everyone is doing really well, the preparation has been excellent. If we play well and gel together the team gold is definitely possible," he said.

"I am expecting nothing less than gold. We have a great team, I think it's the strongest team India has ever fielded in the Commonwealth Games for table tennis," Sathiyan asserted.

After a forgettable outing at the CWG last time, the team, led by stars like Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan, will look to avenge their loss and emerge as winners in the upcoming tournament.

"England will be a challenge but Sharath (Kamal) and I have been playing very well together. We have defeated England twice last year in the World Championships and if we continue this form we can do it again, a gold in doubles is on the cards,""In singles, I will probably be seeded number two or three, in the top four, if I play consistently at the level I have in the past couple of months I have realistic chance of winning gold," a confident Sathiyan said.

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