Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s introduction to table tennis came about quite by accident. When he was five and his head hardly reached above the table, the local coach at his local neighbourhood table tennis centre in Chennai offered to have him enrolled.

Fast-forward to the present and the coach’s decision, all those years ago, looks to have had paid off completely with Sathiyan taking significant upward strides in his career. Whether it’s winning his first International Table Tennis Federation title at the Belgium Open in 2016, or even upsetting world No 8 Wong Chun Ting for his team, the Dabang Smashers against DHFL Maharashtra United in the Ultimate Table Tennis league on Saturday.

For Sathiyan though, these results are just a continuation of what he personally regards as his moment of epiphany about him making a future through the sport.

Breakthrough at the 2008 CWYG

“[I got my] breakthrough when I won the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008 in Pune,” shared Sathiyan. “I was the underdog there and I went in with no expectations. It was a big game for me and I think that really made me feel that I really could make a career in sports. That was the turning point and it has gone well from there.”

Over the next nine years, the 24-year-old tried to convert his successes in the Under-18 and Under-21 arenas to the senior circuit. He is proud of his triumph in Belgium: “I was wanting to play really well in the tournament [and was] expecting to reach the last-eight or even the last-four. But, to win a pro-tour event was quite a big motivation,” observed Sathiyan, who is the only second Indian after Sharath Achanta Kamal to win an ITTF World Tour event.

However, he added that just as he didn’t intend his career to be limited to his title run in Belgium, he also didn’t want it to be defined by it.

“It was not a flash-in-the-pan [result] but that was a lot of days of hard work. I think, you never know when [the timing] clicks. I could maintain that level even after the World Tour [title]. So, I think I was already at that level and it was just a matter of time when it could all click,” he observed. “So, I hope to win more pro-tour events like this in the future.”

Another pivot that turned in Sathiyan’s career after his win in Belgium was in the steep rise in his rankings. From being ranked 152nd in the world, he climbed up 29 spots in the ITTF ranking to the 113th place and right on the fringes of breaking into the top-100.

A definite entry into the top-100 of the men’s singles ranking seems probable by Sathiyan’s personal calculations. The world No 110 has, however, set a bigger goal for himself: to crack the top-70 towards the end of this year. And the only way to do so is by playing more number of tournaments across the season.

The financial aspect at play

“First of all, to get the rankings, the main criterion is to play a lot of international tournaments. Because the more you play, the more is the opportunity to get your rankings high,” opined the Chennai paddler. “These guys [the foreign players] play like 12 or 13 tournaments [every year]. I used to play around three-to-four tournaments. Now, for the last three-four years, I play around seven or eight tournaments. But, now I will step up and play around ten-to-11 tournaments.”

Sathiyan’s itinerary for the month of August has been already decided: He is scheduled to play in Bulgaria, Nigeria and the Czech Republic. Promising as this is, it also tells an equally positive tale about the financial support that he has been receiving to further his career.

“Funding is always an issue [in table tennis], but I have been lucky because the Tamil Nadu government has been supporting me for the last four years since 2013,” stated Sathiyan, who receives sponsorship under the Tamil Nadu government-instituted Elite Sportspersons scheme. “And then I have GoSports Foundation, who have been sponsoring me for the last seven years since 2010. They have been doing their part as well. And, the government of India has [also] been sending us [table tennis players] for four-to-five World Tour [events] every year.”

For Sathiyan, having these support systems firmly in place is even bigger incentive to try and prove himself. “Things are looking very good as of now and I have to use this great opportunity to get to the next level. I have everything in place and it’s up to me to make everything useful and fruitful,” he says.