G. Sathiyan’s superb run in the ITTF-ATTU Asian table tennis championships here on Friday came to an end when he went down fighting to Lin Gaoyuan of China, the World No. 4 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 in the men’s singles quarterfinals.
Earlier, Sathiyan, ranked 30 in the world, made history of sorts when he beat North Korea’s An Ji Song 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 in the pre-quarterfinals to become the second Indian paddler to make the last eight of the Asian continental event after Sudhir Phadke in 1976.
Meanwhile, Ayhika Mukherjee’s dream run also ended when she lost to World No. 2 Ding Ning of China 11-5, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9 in the women’s pre-quarterfinals. She had defeated Batbayar Doljinzuu of Mongolia 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 in the previous round.
On the feat Sathiyan said: “I am extremely happy and elated to reach the quarters in the prestigious event. It has been a wonderful journey and I would really love to set the bar high for Indian table tennis....”
The results: Men: Quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan lost to Lin Gaoyuan (Chn) 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8. Pre-quarterfinals: Sathiyan bt An Ji Song (DPR) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6. Round of 32: Sathiyan bt Noshad Alamiyan (IRI) 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5; A. Amalraj lost to Chen Chien-An (Tpe) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Manav Thakkar lost to Cheg-Ting Liao (Tpe) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3.
Doubles: Quarterfinals: Sharath Kamal & Sathiyan lost to Jingkun Liang & Lin Gaoyuan (CHn) 11-6, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7.
Women: Pre-quarterfinals: Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Ding Ning (Chn) 11-5, 11-13, 11-4, 11-9. Round of 32: Ayhika bt Batbayar Doljinzuu (MGL) 11-6, 11-7, 11-3; Archana Kamath lost to Feng Tianwei (Sin) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4; Manika Batra lost to Kasumi Ishikawa (Jpn) 11-9, 11-8, 11-4; Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Jihee Jeon (Kor) 14-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5; Madhurika Patkar lost to Hitomi Sato (Jpn) 11-6, 11-9, 11-4.
