Year of many firsts for Sathiyan as he takes over the mantle from Sharath

sprightly G Sathiyan came of to take over leership mantle in Indian table tennis from veteran A Sharath Kamal in a year which saw pdlers produce memorable performances despite lack of a full-time coach. For a dece and a half, Sharath was India's lone warrior on big st but w he too is relieved that he has got a fast-improving Sathiyan for company. "It's time (we h someone else taking over leership responsibility). Sathiyan is improving rapidly in international arena and I am really happy for him," said 37-year-old Sharath, arguably finest table tennis player India has produced.

If 2018 was about India doing exceedingly well at Commonwealth and Asian Games, 2019 was mainly about Sathiyan making his mark at highest level where he defeated quite a few top-20 players, including world number five and young Japanese teen sensation Harimoto Tomokazu. 26-year-old also became first Indian to break into top-25 of ITTF world rankings when he rose to 24 in July. Ar fear in his cap was finishing sixth in his first-ever Asian Cup which helped him qualify for World Cup where he me main draw after topping his group. "It has been a satisfying year. I beat quite a few higher-ranked players and target for next year is to register more wins against top-10 players. We are also doing well as a team and that gives us confidence going into Olympics qualifiers," Sathiyan told PTI.

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Indian pdlers have w become a force to reckon with and y were without a full-time coach in journey this year. individual brilliance aside, y also make for a potent men's team. After winning a historic bronze at Asian Games last year, squ comprising Sharath (WR 34), Sathiyan (30) and reigning Commonwealth champion Harmeet Desai (85) has a very good chance of achieving ar first when it plays Olympic team qualifiers in Portugal beginning January 22.         Currently ranked 8th, all India needs to do is to reach quarterfinals to ensure a first-ever Olympic qualification as a team. So far, Indian players have only featured in individual events at Olympics.

" good thing is that all of us are in good shape and all we need to do is play as per our ranking. If we do that, we qualify for Olympics as a team for very first time," said Sharath, who mand his worklo by playing seven ITTF World Tour events this year.

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much younger Sathiyan played in 11 World Tour events where he got better of many established names in business. squ, which is without a coach for past 16 months, is assembling in Chennai later this week to prepare for all-important Olympic qualification event. Since national camps have taken place due to absence of a coach, players have been training on ir own. "Ahe of an important team event, we must train toger. We are playing well individually but lack of a full-time coach is taking a toll on all of us including federation which is trying its best to find a good coach," said Sharath, who has an ded responsibility of mentoring unit.

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women's team may t be as strong as men's team but expectations have been high from Manika Batra ever since she bagged four medals at 2018 Commonwealth Games. world number 61 could t build up on that exceptional showing in 2019 and slipped in rankings. Off court, 24-year-old from Delhi h a lot going on as she split with her childhood coach Sandeep Gupta citing stagnancy in her game. Having moved her training base to Pune from Delhi, Manika is aiming to break back into top-50. 

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