WTT Contender: Sathiyan beats world No. 6 Darko, enters round of 16

New Delhi: Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran entered the men’s singles round of 16 in the WTT Contender after registering an upset 3-1 win over world No. 6 and reigning European champion Jorgic Darko in Zagreb, Croatia.

A courageous Sathiyan beat second-seeded Slovenian player Darko 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 in their round of 32 clash.

“Went all guns blazing as I secured a MASSIVE WIN tonight taking down the World Rank 6 & current European cup champion Jorgic Darko (SLO) 3-1 in the Men Singles Round of 32 here in WTT Contender Zagreb 2022,” Sathiyan tweeted on late Thursday night.

The Indian will now face Chinese player Chen Yuanyu in the last 16.

Notably, this is Sathiyan’s second win over a player ranked inside the top 10 in the world. Prior to this Sathiyan had beaten former World No 5 Tomakazu Harimoto of Japan during the 2019 Asian Championships.

The 29-year old is also the part of the Indian table tennis squad for the upcoming 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, which is to start on July 28. The ongoing tournament in Croatia will help Sathiyan to fine-tune his preparations for the CWG.