CWG 2022: Important for TT players to not have 2018 medal haul in mind at Birmingham, says Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
By the time this interview turns into cold print, Sathiyan and his energy will be at the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village in Birmingham to tick boxes -- most for the team and one personal. At world rank No. 35, Sathiyan, the highest-ranked Indian in singles, will be in Birmingham with renewed hopes of fetching himself a singles medal and carrying India's 2018 momentum into the 2022 Games. At Gold Coast four years ago, India finished as the best table tennis nation with eight medals, including three gold medals, led by Manika Batra's historic singles triumph. It will be a tough, though not impossible, task to match that medal haul. With an almost similar cast as 2018, led by Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manika and Sathiyan, the Indian TT contingent will be "one of the favourites" at its happy hunting ground -- the CWG. But as Sathiyan says in this chat with TimesofIndia.com, being one the favourites brings a different kind of pressure.
