Commonwealth Games 2022: Now the chase is for a singles medal, says Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

For Sathiyan, it was just a stepping stone in his search for a singles medal at the CWG 2022. Talking exclusively to TOI before flying out to Birmingham, Sathiyan’s answers had the lucidity of his forehand drive and the nuances carried the spin of his backhand slice. Excerpts from the interview: How did the training camp in Portugal go?Training has been excellent in Portugal. We got to train in similar conditions like Birmingham, same butterfly tables, similar weather conditions, same time zone. It helps, you know. We had serious and satisfying sessions ahead of the CWG under the guidance of our coach Raman Subramanian. We also got to play a lot of doubles. We also had top class sparring partners. Certainly we had a very good preparation coming at the right time. Do you think your preparations for CWG has been satisfactory, confidence-wise?Yes. For the Commonwealth Games, we had one national camp in Bangalore followed by the one in Portugal and then we played some tournaments. It’s been excellent, a good mixture of both training and matches. The confidence is great. Of course, having a win against Darko (world No. 6) in Zagreb before the Games has given me a lot of confidence. So it’s looking good and the confidence level is on an upward curve. I am hoping I can take it to the Games.

India's history at the Commonwealth Games

Since you have a fair idea of the draw, where do you think the main challenges will come from?I have studied the draw and have a fair idea about the ensuing contests. You know there are some good teams. We have England, Nigeria, Canada and Singapore, so from the quarterfinals onwards, things will start getting hotter. Of course in the medal rounds (semi final and final), the competition will be even