Sathiyan-Harmeet revives old chemistry for first TT tour doubles title

On Saturday, for the first time in three years, they ended up claiming the World Table Tennis Contender title in Tunisia, Tunisia, defeating France’s Emmanuel Lebesson and Alexandre Cassin in the final 3-1. It was their first tour doubles title, both individually and together. And achievement also has long-term significance.

“We keep in mind the team events at the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games next year and also the Paris Olympics,” Sathiyan explains.

“All these years have usually been (Achanta) Sharath Kamal and Harmeet forming a pair of doubles. We thought that if Harmeet and I play some tournaments and the combination works, it will give the team another option for whom to play in doubles.

The duo may not have played for three years, but last time they won the rubber that secured the team gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Since then, both have had varied paths on their individual table tennis trips – Sathiyan rose to become the world’s 24th single player (the best ranking any Indian has ever achieved), and Desai, who is currently 73rd in the world, has secured his place. As the top 100 players.

However, playing together at the same table side after three years, they found that they both delved into their common past in a domestic round.

Sathiyan remembers the fellowship building since they first met at a national event in 2001, and then they became a permanent member of the national team a decade later.

“We’re good friends out of court, and we share a lot of data and analysis,” says the 28-year-old, currently ranked 37. “We know more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses than anyone else. And we have faith in each other. I’m not bluffing.

Double victory for Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai! 🇮🇳🏆 #Pat on the back for squeezing #WTTTunis Men’s Doubles Championship! #WTT #Table tennis #Table tennis pic.twitter.com/Rt0zu9bMyK

– World Table Tennis (@WTTGlobal) October 30, 2021

Teamwork works

This trust and knowledge sharing came to the fore, especially in the tight semifinals against the pair of Hungarian Nandor Ecsek and Adam Szud.

“Harmeet had tried a banana at some point, but it didn’t work. He seemed a little upset, but I told him to stick with it. He did and it worked for us, Sathiyan says.

“Harmeet also noticed that Nandor, who is an awkward left-hander, knocked me out of weak successive rebounds at crucial points. He told me about it and told me to rotate the shot (convert it into a handshake) and hit a few strong rebounds.

“It’s the kind of contribution we can make to each other just because we knew each other’s games so well.”

It was more similar in the final against the French team.

“We both play close to the table and we play fast,” Desai says. – When I attack, he can follow and when he attacks, I can keep up. It surprised the Europeans.

“This was a good morale. Sharath and Sathiyan had come up with a plan that we would play to test the combination. We had a nice time and it was easy for us. It feels really good to win the championship. “

Now they start playing more often on the same side of the field.

“It helps relieve Sharath’s pressure so she doesn’t have to play every doubles. At the same time, opponents knew it was always Sharath and Harmeet, now we can keep guessing because there is another combination in the combination, ”Sathiyan adds.