Table Tennis: Aim to break into top-10 in the next two years, says G Sathiyan

Ace paddler G Sathiyan, who was part of the Indian team that won a historic medal in the recent Asian Games, said on Thursday that his aim was to break into the top 10 and win an Olympic medal in the next two years.

Sathiyan has charted out a plan to achieve the target. The 25-year-old, who will receive the Arjuna Award in New Delhi on September 25, told reporters in Chennai that along with his coach S Raman, a former national champion, a long-term plan has been put in place for the next few years including training in Asian countries.

“The aim is to crack the top 20 in the next one year and then in the next two years aim for top 10 and winning an Olympic medal,” he added. The last two years have been eventful, Sathiyan said, adding he had won two ITTF Pro Tour titles in that period.

“I won two Pro Tour titles in the last two years and achieved a world ranking of 39. Now the plan is look forward, the last two-three years have been good, winning the titles and winning prestigious medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. The Asian Games was even more special.”

He said the plan was to train in Asian countries, which are powerhouses in table tennis. “What I have planned for the next six years is that there will be 150 days of training every year in Asian powerhouses like China, Japan and Korea. It would cost up to Rs 20-25 lakh to train for 150 days a year in these countries,” he said.

“This kind of training is really going to help achieve the target of top-20 and 10 and an elusive Olympic medal,” he added.

A full support team, including a physical conditioning coach and mental conditioning coach, would be travelling with him to the ITTF tournaments. “A full team will travel with me to Pro Tours to get to know what it is like to play the top players and what it takes to reach the top (10 or 20) in the sport. It will also help me give my best performance,” Sathiyan said.

He said having won Pro Tour Challenger series events, the aim was to win major events and Platinum series events. On his part, Raman said it was time for Sathiyan to train with the Asian players if he had to realise his dream of being a top-10 or 20 player and bagging a medal at the Olympic games.

(With inputs from PTI)