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.

Excerpts...High expectations from the TT contingent after the rich haul in Gold Coast, but a lot in the world has changed since 2018...Certainly a lot of things have changed since 2018, but good that now we know it's not like the scenario we played in (with Covid restrictions) at the Tokyo Olympics. Now we have played a lot of tournaments (after the pandemic became less aggressive), so we will be feeling more than normal, I think, at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Does a successful recent past add to the pressure on players?Yes, there will be a lot of added pressure. But as a team we have always felt privileged, pressure is a privilege. We have also played a lot of tournaments together and know how to take on the big teams (and top players). Certainly it's not going to be easy to even