GNANASEKARAN Sathiyan

Grip
Shakehand (ultimatetabletennis.in, 01 Jul 2017)

Style of play
Attack (ultimatetabletennis.in, 01 Jul 2017)

General
LOSING HIS FATHER
After his father passed away from cancer in 2015, he withdrew from a national qualification event on the path to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He says the loss of his father changed the way he played. "It almost threw me back to square one. I didn't know how to react, and how to go from there. Everyone was devastated, but that's when I felt that I played as if I had nothing to lose. What more did I have to lose after losing my dad? That really changed me as a person. I started playing more aggressive table tennis, taking more risks. I had to start from scratch mentally. I worked with a mental conditioning coach to focus on the sport, and a fitness trainer and a dietician. I started to be more professional and led a disciplined life. That was the key to making it to the [2020] Olympics." (firstpost.com, 20 Mar 2021)

OVERSEAS PREPARATION
He has played for club teams in the Polish Superliga and Japanese T-League in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "The level of training I have got, practising with top Japanese players, I don't think I would have got this kind of practice anywhere else. It's great preparation for the Olympics and the best I could get. When you have 20-30 top players training together, you can imagine the intensity. [Japanese players] focus on a lot of skill training, practising fine skills. Compared to other countries, who are playing their leagues and getting matches, it's tough in India. We had a national camp, but matches are important." (olympicchannel.com, 27 Dec 2020; thebridge.in, 21 Dec 2020; indianexpress.com, 05 Nov 2020; olympicchannel.com, 17 Oct 2020; espn.com, 12 Oct 2020)

LOCKDOWN IMPROVEMENTS
He used the COVID-19 lockdown to watch videos of his matches, which he says has made him more aware of his own gameplay. "When I started to get used to the new normal, I started being more aware of myself, learning from seeing videos of my past matches. I always used to think only about my opponent when I used to plan strategy for games. This year [2020] for a change, I had so much time that I could see how my game was. I have never done that so closely. That helped, sitting on video calls with my coach. We made use of the lockdown time pretty well. I needed to develop my stroke, and not just play as per my opponent's pace. In fast conditions I'd find the ball very difficult to control. So I went for a slightly slower racquet, but one that offers better spin. That's been working well for me." (firstpost.com, 15 Oct 2020; timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 28 Jul 2020; sportstar.thehindu.com, 09 Apr 2020)

OCCUPATION
He works as a human resources executive for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation [ONGC] in India, as part of a sports quota programme that allows him to train and compete internationally. (Facebook profile, 16 May 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Mar 2021)

He was part of the team that won India's first ever medal in table tennis at the Asian Games, when they won bronze in the men's team event at the 2018 edition in Indonesia. (SportsDeskOnline, 20 May 2021; indiatoday.in, 28 Aug 2018)