The Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium witnessed an ecstatic Sathiyan Gnanasekaran jumping out of the Dabang Delhi dugout and hugging teammate Diya Chitale, who had just beaten Manika Batra 3-0 on Sunday in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).
Manika of the Bengaluru Smashers looked quite down after the drubbing as she was seen disappearing into the dressing room soon after the match, while a smiling Diya was held back by the broadcaster and scribes alike.
“When I lost my first match, everyone was so supportive. I would really like to thank Sathiyan bhaiya because he told me ‘It’s okay, it’s just one match’. Even though he lost last time, he came back really strong so that really gave me the confidence. The coaches are so supportive, the management, everyone,” an out-of-breath Diya told Sportstar. “He’s (Sathiyan) pumping everyone up and he brought back the tie for us. I’m happy I could finish it off.”
Sathiyan, who is leading Delhi, did indeed bring the tie back for his franchise to 6-6 after handing a 3-0 loss to Jeet Chandra. After that, he was proactive from the sidelines, offering valuable nuggets of advice to Diya every now and then.
Dabang Delhi’s Sathiyan G did indeed bring the tie back for his franchise to 6-6 after handing a 3-0 loss to Jeet Chandra. | Photo Credit: UTT
Diya, clad in U Mumba threads, had faced Manika last year, which was the youngster’s debut season in the tournament. She went on to lose 1-2 to her senior, but Mumba saw off a victory against Bengaluru.
A little more than a year later, Diya, this time donning Delhi’s blues, returned the favour.
“I’m feeling amazing that in the end I was able to win against Manika di,” she, who was still absorbing the enormity of what she had done, said. “I was really confident going into the match. I knew that she (Manika) will also play really well and I have to up my game. This was the lesson I learnt against Goa when I was 2-0 up. In the last game I got a bit complacent and relaxed. Since then, I have tried to keep the same focus and intensity for every point and every game.”
Ever since Diya opened her second stint in the UTT with a 0-3 loss to experienced Sutirtha Mukherjee, the 21-year-old paddler from Mumbai has been on a winning streak. Some may even call her a giant slayer, having beaten a couple of higher-ranked players in this run, but she chooses to be humble.
After beating Poymantee Baisya of Chennai Lions 3-0, Diya (WR134) defeated Goa Challenger’s Yashaswini Ghorpade (WR86) and Puneri Paltan’s Ayhika Mukherjee (WR94), before adding Manika (WR26) to the list.
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