'To play or not to play' - How G Sathiyan overcame this Hamlet-esque dilemma to pursue a career in sport!

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran hails from a family of academics. His father was a VSNL (An Indian Government enterprise) employee who was posted in Zimbabwe and his mother, who has retired recently, worked for the Union Bank of India. He is the first generation athlete in his family. Hence a career in sports was not even conceived as a viable option during his childhood.

But just like most kids, he was super active and restless. His mother thought that she needs to do something to channel the energy into something constructive.

"That's when she got me admitted into the SDAT Medimix Table Tennis Academy in Chennai. I along with my sister Rekha started practising under V Chandrasekhar, three-time national table tennis champion," reminisced Sathiyan to the Olympic Channel.

At just four years of age, he was so short that he wouldn't reach the table. But he did not stop going to train.

"I fell in love with the sport and I just wanted to go there every day. The speed of the game fascinated me. I represented Tamil Nadu U12 when I eight. And soon I was already punching above my weight."

He kept knocking out senior opponents and when he was just 12 he was selected for the U15 Indian team that travelled to Doha for the ITTF Cadet and Junior competition, where he bagged silver. He kept challenging older age groups and the U18 Commonwealth Games in Pune was a major breakthrough for his career.

"I was just 15 and I won the gold medal in U18 Commonwealth Games. That's when I realised that I should take up the sport more seriously and professionally. There was a huge crowd. We were the underdogs. To win there was a huge morale booster and then I realised that I can make a name for myself in the sport. Then I started to play really well and the dilemma kicked in."

Sathiyan excelled in academics. He achieved 96 per cent in class 10 and 90 in class 12. Although his parents supported his decision to pursue sports, they were unsure whether being an athlete would bring financial stability.

"Sport was not like this today 10 years ago. Today the government is hugely supportive, the media is aware and the facilities are excellent. When you are good at one thing, it is easy, but unfortunately, when you are good at two things, you have to choose one to excel. That becomes difficult."

2012 was a difficult year for the paddler. He was not getting results in table tennis and engineering was making his life difficult.

"The decline started as I was confused between the two. 2012 was a very shaky year for me. But once I got a job in ONGC, everything changed for me. My parents were happy and relieved and I could concentrate only on table tennis.

"Go Sports Foundation also started supporting me in 2012. Tamil Nadu government came up with an elite programme."

In the same year, he started training under Subramaniam Raman, the coach who changed his life by introducing him to a perspective in table tennis that was hitherto unknown to him.

"When I was a kid I always wanted to play more balls. If the opponent played 100, I would go for 101. I would always try not to miss a ball. But Raman Sir completely changed my thinking. He said, that works when you are a kid. But at the top level, all that matters is quality. You play three-four balls but you make sure that the fifth ball does not come back. You might miss it, but you have to be more aggressive and agile.

"I was not much of a risk-taker, I would say. I wanted to be very secured. That was also reflecting on the table. I was not taking enough risks. Raman Sir told me that being aggressive is not a risk, it is a calculated risk that you will master once you practice again and again. If the Chinese are hitting really hard, you think it is a blinder, but it is actually not so. That's like practice and once you practice it's not a risk anymore. That really changed my thought process. It gave me a certain boost and at that point, I broke loose. That helped me progress in my game. "

He started working on his fitness, focussed on his nutrition and also started sessions under mental conditioning coach Vaibhav Agashe. When he was about to take-off his father passed away and that shock changed him completely.

"At the end of 2015, three months before the (Olympic) qualifiers I lost my dad. It was a very big loss and upsetting. That's when I thought I should not be on the borderline to get into the Olympics. I will put my foot down and do whatever it takes. I could not afford to go as just another participant but only as a medal hopeful.

"I put all my anger and frustrations into the game. I played like I have nothing to lose. I became more aggressive and faster."

Results stated to follow soon. In 2016, he won the ITTF Challenge Belgium Open title in the men's singles category. This was his first ITTF pro tour title. In the final match played at De Haan in Belgium, he defeated the local player Nuytinck Cedric with a 4-0 score in the final - with 15-13, 11-6, 11-2, 17-15.

He continued his rich vein form in 2017 as well. He won gold in the ITTF Challenge - Spanish Open, in Almeria (2017) in the men's singles category and created history by becoming the first Indian to win two ITTF pro tour titles.

A high-point came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he bagged three medals. He won gold in the men's team event, silver in men's doubles and bronze in mixed doubles.

However, his win against Japan in the Asian Games in Jakarta gave him the belief that he can take on elite paddlers and beat them.

"That match and the tournament made me believe that I elite and one of the best. I thought that if I can have an Asian Games medal, then an Olympic medal is not far off."

He has started 2021 on a bright note. After clinching his first national title he won both his matches in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. If he continues to perform at this level, an Olympic medal might be on the cards.