Sathiyan's club ASV Grunwettersbach wins German Cup

In the final, ASV defeated defending champion TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3-2, with Sathiyan winning the opening match in the semifinals.

According to Sathiyan, this is the first time ASV has won the German Cup.

Sathiyan played his part in his Club, ASV Grunwettersbasch winning the German Cup (Bundesliga) table tennis championships here on Saturday.

In the final, ASV defeated defending champion TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3-2. Though Sathiyan lost both his singles matches, he did well in the semifinals winning the opening match, beating Shang Kun in five games (11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9).

 

An excited Sathiyan said: "It was a great team effort. We were the underdogs and [the win] was certainly a big surprise for those assembled in the hall (Ratiopharm Hall) that had 4600 people in attendance. It was great to play such a high level of match. I simply loved the atmosphere."

According to Sathiyan, this is the first time ASV has won the German Cup. The 26-year-old Indian, ranked 30 in the world, said it is a big motivation going into the Olympic Team qualification tournament to be held in Gondomar (Portugal) from January 22 to 26. "I hope to take my good form to the qualifiers, and hope to perform even better."

The results (final): ASV Grunwettersbasch bt TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen 3-2 (G. Sathiyan lost to Jakub Dyjas 4-11, 1-11, 11-9, 5-11; Dang Qiu bt Simon Gauzy 11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7; Xi Wang bt Stefan Fegerl 11-6, 11-5, 11-7; Sathiyan lost to Gauzy 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 10-12; Qiu & Rasmussen bt Fegerl & Dyjas 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7).