Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the 2019 ITTF Men's World Cup taking place in Chengdu, China. This was Shivansh Gupta and keeping you company.
In the end, it's Sathiyan who goes to Timo Boll 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11
Thank you so much for joining us. That's all we have for you. You can read the report here and to find out what Sathiyan said about his WC campaign, you can click here. And keep following Sportstar for your daily dosage of sports from around the world. Ciao!
Sathiyan has announced himself and like Adam Bobrow, the commentator, mentioned he has brought Indian table tennis into the limelight and sent out a message saying that he is here to stay!
That's that! It was always going to be difficult. We knew it and they all knew it! But what an outstanding campaign from the Sathiyan. He must be mighty proud of himself. He won the first game of the match before going down fighting. He gave it his all, but Boll's experience was just too much to handle.
TIMO TAKES GAME 5 11-8
8-11: TIMO WINS AND HE IS THROUGH TO THE QUARTERFINALS. Sathiyan hits his cross court return wide and that's that!
8-10: TWO MATCH POINTS FOR TIMO!
8-9: Boll with an inside out. He's so quick around the middle and that gave him enough time for an inside out smash.
7-7: Timo block the fierce forehand drive from Sathiyan, who hits the ball long on his next shot.
7-6: Sathiyan with a slender lead. Timo wins the point with a parallel backhand winner. Next point, Sathiyan tries to parry it past the net, but hits it into the net.
6-5: HEAD SHOT! Timo's stinging forehand hits Sathiyan on the head. Sathiyan is fine and Timo with a polite apology.
5-5: EXTRA SPIN! does the trick for Sathiyan as Timo hits it long.
4-4: Surprise! Sathiyan uses his wrists to bend a parallel backhand away from Timo.
3-3: Sathiyan does well to level it up. He is sticking to his guns, fighting till the end. He will keep attacking and that's his best shot.
1-2: NICE RECOVERY AND HE IS SMILING THERE! What an excellent rally between the two before a return from Timo clips the net. Sathiyan runs forward and recovers, but Timo finishes it off. Dagger to the heart!
1-1: Sathiyan switches it up and hits a cracking inside put winner.
0-1: Top edge of the racket and the ball goes out.
Sathiyan to serve first.
It will be very tough from here on for the Indian paddler. He has to win all the remaining three games. Can he do it? Let's find out.
TIMO TAKES GAME 4: 11-9
9-11: TIMO WINS GAME 4 AND TAKES A 3-1 LEAD.
9-10: Saves second game point, does Sathiyan. Timo's return flies long.
8-10: Saves one, but with the same shot. Bends low and whips it past Timo. Barely any backlift on the forehand.
7-10: Three game points as Sathiyan loses balance and his inside out is long.
7-9: Quick rally and Timo hits it long. Next, Sathiyan plays a soft, spinny shot for a winenr.
5-9: Sathiyan's return finds the net.
4-8: Sathiyan makes Timo run left and right, but loses the point as his return is long.
3-6: Boll, with a lot of spin, drills the backhand right in the centre. Sathiyan struggles to get a good piece of his racket on time and the ball falls long. Next point, Sathiyan is outfoxed by Timo's spin. Sathiyan expected the forehand return by Timo to bounce high, but it stayed low with a lot of spin.
3-5: Boll's return is into the net.
2-5: This time, Boll makes an error. Too much power on that inside out forehand.
1-5: Gets on the board but hits the next backhand return out of bounds after the ball clips the net.
0-4: Sathiyan had to fetch the ball wide from his forehand as the ball was spinning away. Hits the ball long.
0-3: TIME-OUT taken by Sathiyan.
0-2: So far behind from the table, Timo and still manages to keep the ball in. Sathiyan smashes the ball into the net. Next point, Boll attacks from the top of the table and gets a winner right down the middle of the table.
TIMO TAKES GAME 3: 11-5
5-11: GAME 3 TO TIMO! Sathiyan was a little cautious on his forehand block and paid the price as the ball flew out.
5-10: Sathiyan saves one game point by guiding the top spin return from down low for a winner.
4-9: FINALLY! Sathiyan keeps Timo at bay by attacking his backhand and then switches to inside out for a lovely winner.
3-9: Another heavy spin shot and Sathiyan fails to keep it on the table.
3-7: A beautiful down the line winner past Timo's forehand
2-7: Another inside out gone wrong. Showing a little impatience here. Tries to up the ante, switches the play, but finds the net.
2-5: NOT HAPPY! Sathiyan hits another backhand return long.
2-4: Boll hits the return into the net after troubling Sathiyan with his spin.
1-2: Sathiyan thought he had Boll there. He was strong on the cross court smash and Boll makes a loopy return. Sathiyan tries to go inside out, away from Boll, but ends up slamming it into the net.
1-1: A softer shot from Boll hits the net and flies long.
Sathiyan to serve first.
TIMO TAKES GAME 2: 11-8
8-11: GAME TO TIMO! Reverse pendulum serve from the German followed by a great backhand, spinny return. Sathiyan switches to his forehand for an offensive drive, but ends up smashing it into the net.
8-10: Sathiyan makes the same error, but with a backhand. Two game points for Timo.
8-9: Sathiyan is keeping up with him. Point to Timo as the ball flies long.
7-7: A bit of fortune for Boll, as the ball clips the net and trickles over. Nothing the opponent can do.
6-6: Just like yesterday, Sathiyan continues to dominate his opponents with his Tomahawk serves.
5-5: Another great backhand topspin return. He waits and gets on top of the ball nicely, does Sathiyan and hits it right infront of Boll, who steps back but the ball flies out after hitting the edge of his racket.
4-4: Next, Sathiyan's return clips the net and fall over the table.
4-3: Sathiyan in the lead again, Timo was too eager on the forehand on the top of the table and he ends up hitting it wide.
2-3: Just a little payback from Timo, as he makes a service error.
1-3: Early lead for Boll as Sathiyan's returns fall wide.
1-1: A good block from Sathiyan, absorbs the speed and power of Timo's shot and Timo hits it back long.
Boll to serve first.
SATHIYAN TAKES GAME 1: 11-7
11-7: SATHIYAN WITH GAME 1! What a start! A flurry of smashes and forces a long return from the German. Brilliant start by the Indian.
10-7: SMASH PAST TIMO'S BACKHAND AND THREE GAME POINTS.
9-7: S athiyan in the lead with the serves on his side. Two returns that flew long from Boll.
7-7: After Sathiyan's reverse pendulum serve got the better of Timo, Sathiyan hit one return long.
6-6: A brilliant forehand exchange between the two. Sathiyan switches it up by sending the next ball to Timo's backhand and the German smashes it into the racket.
4-4: Lovely work again from the Indian. Catches Timo by surprise with his wristy flick.
3-4: Timo with a quick serve and follows it up with a lovely cross court forehand drive.
2-3: Clever flick! Looked second best there, but outfoxed Boll with a cross court flick.
1-2: Sathiyan on the run with a clever parallel forehand. Boll was going the wrong way.
0-2: Service error from Sathiyan. Rare.
0-1: Quick on the bounce and Boll sends Sathiyan spinning with his fierce forehand drive past Sathiyan's backhand.
Sathiyan to serve first
The players are warming up.
It's finally time for the big clash.
The players are out!
Sathiyan's coach, S. Raman has shared his thoughts with Sportstar before the match. Here's what he has to say:
"Tough match! Sathiyan has to be in sublime rhythm from the start to have a chance to win."
Gauzy and Groth, his opponents yesterday, were of very different nature.
France's Gauzy likes to play deep, far from the table and likes lobbing. He mixes his serves up and puts a lot of side spin in his shot. He troubled Sathiyan because Sathiyan like to play more on the top of the table.
On one hand, Sathiyan kept pushing Gauzy back with vicious tomahawk smashes and playing quick, counter-attacking game and on the other hand, Gauzy's serve, his 1-2 play (serve and smash) kept Sathiyan at bay.
Sathiyan credited his coach, S. Raman, for constantly pushing him throughout the match and working out strategies that worked wonders. In his first match, Sathiyan was down 0-2 to Gauzy.
Sathiyan said that he stuck to his strengths, his attacking game and kept putting his opponent under pressure.
Sathiyan, while speaking to Sportstar yesterday, said that the name Timo Boll is enough. He said that he has a respect for the former world no. 1 but he will put his best forward tomorrow.
Sathiyan speaking about his win, said: "I'm out of words. It's been an amazing day on court. I had never beaten Gauzy and Groth before. These are massive wins for me. More than reaching the knockouts, beating these two guys and then going into the pre-quarters at such a big stage is a fantastic feeling.
Before we get right into the thick of the action, let's have a look at his highlights from day 1 of the World Cup:
-> Sathiyan began his World Cup campaign by beating world No. 22 and 12th seed Simon Gauzy. You can read the full match report here.
- > Sathiyan carried his good form into the second match when he defeated Denmark's, and world No.24 and 14th seed, Jonathan Groth. Match report here.
To emphasise on the importance of this match, consider the following:
1) Timo Boll is the fifth seed in the tournament and current world No. 8.
2) Timo Boll and G. Sathiyan have never faced each other in an international tournament.
3) Timo Boll is a two-time Men's World Cup champion.
4) Timo Boll is appearing in his 16th Men's World Cup.
The top contenders of winning the World Cup:
Fan Zhendong : The defending champion starts as one of the favourites. The world No. 1 is a two-time World Cup champion, with his maiden crown arriving in Saarbrücken, Germany, in 2016. The Chinese paddler is coming off the back of back-to-back tournament wins at the Austrian Open and the German Open, and the 22-year-old has a chance to become only the third player to win consecutive World Cups after Ma Lin (2003-04) and Wang Hao (2007-08).
Ma Long : The 31-year-old Chinese is a veteran of the sport and also a two-time World Cup champion (2012, 2015). The world No. 4 started the year with titles at the Qatar Open and the China Open before finishing runner-up in Korea. With a win percentage of 80 in the tournament, he is touted as the biggest threat to Fan’s defence campaign.
Timo Boll: Aged 38 and with a win record-loss of 49-21 at the tournament, the German is the second-most experienced player at this year’s edition. The world No. 8 has lifted the title in 2002 and 2005 and holds the distinction of recording the joint most, with Wang Hao, appearances in the final – six. Though Boll hasn’t won a tournament in 2019, he has been consistent with either top-four or top-eight finishes.
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH?
You can watch the matches on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2 HD
You can watch the live streaming on: Hotstar and on the official ITTF website at https://tv.ittf.com/
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