Sathiyan Gnanasekaran claims Czech International Open title

08/26/2021

Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran trounced Ukraine’s Yevhen Pryshchepa 4-0 to bag top-honours at the ITTF Czech International Open. This has been an extraordinary spell for the Indian paddler, with him claiming a mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender in Budapest, alongside Manika Batra.

Sathiyan Gnanasekharan was touted as the surprise package for the Indian contingent going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, an early exit was least expected from the Chennai-based paddler. One month down the line, Sathiyan has made a remarkable comeback after the Tokyo disappointment.

The world No. 39 trounced Yevhen Pryshchepa 4-0 to bag top-honours at the ITTF Czech International Open, in Olomouc. The top-seeded Indian in the meet, just ran over his contender with scores of 11-0, 11-6, 11-6, 14-12 in the summit clash.

Earlier on, Sathiyan faced Truls Moregardh of Sweden in the semi-finals, with the European retired hurt midway through the game, allowing his opponent to get a shot at the title. In fact, the Indian was leading the match 2-0, having won 11-4, 11-8 in the first two games, while the Swede decided not to play further when he was trailing 2-8 in the third game.

It was only last week that Sathiyan Gnanasekharan teamed up with Manika Batra to claim the mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender, in Budapest.