In a remarkable performance, India’s G. Sathiyan overwhelmed Cedric Nuytinck of Germany 4-0 (15-13, 11-6, 11-2, 17-15) in the men’s singles final of the ITTF World Tour Belgium table tennis Open (Challenge) at De Haan, for his maiden Pro Tour title.
The Indian was richer by USD 4,000 for his efforts.
Ranked 152nd in the world, Sathiyan defeated higher-ranked Steffen Mengel of Germany (ranked 75 in the world) in the quarterfinal and Harald Andersson of Sweden (156) in the semifinal before coming up with an impressive display over the German, ranked 113, in the summit clash. Sathiyan had put it across Jon Persson of Sweden (ranked 103) in the second round.
“This is the best moment of my career. To beat a few top-ranked players and win the tournament is something I never imagined,” Sathiyan told Sportstar.
After Sharath Kamal’s Egypt Open triumph in July 2010, this is the first time an Indian has won a major singles Pro Tour title. “This is great news. Given his rankings, he was not the favourite and to win it is something big,” said Sharath. “To win a tournament which had Assar Omar of Egypt (who is currently ranked 56) as the top seed. who was once ranked in the top 30 is no joke.”
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