G Sathiyan looked relaxed and was at his chirpy best as he walked into the Raman High Performance Centre, where he practises when in Chennai. Table Tennis aside, he seemed to be enjoying every bit of his time as a new father; as it were evident on his face. “A look at my son takes all the tiredness and stress away...I am enjoying it,” the 33-year-old who was on a paternity break until earlier this month confessed.
Like most players, Sathiyan had it tough during rehabilitation post an injury in February. The demons that lurked in his mind after the injury, however, seemed to have paved way to confidence, and reinvigorated him for the season. The former India No 1, who won a handful of Commonwealth Games and an Asian Games medal, is now happy to be fit and is looking forward to the Asian Games, which he considers the biggest challenge.
During an informal chat with CE at the Raman HPC, ahead of the US Smash tournament that began on Sunday, he was quite candid and spoke at length about how difficult it is to be in the top 50 in the world ranking, especially at 33 years of age. “It has taught me to be aware of my body. I have started to focus on small things like recovery, fitness, sleep, and how important it is to be good off the court,” said Sathiyan, adding that now he has now entered a space that would resemble a pre-injury phase. With mirth laced in confidence, he quipped about feeling like a player in his mid-twenties. “I might be 33, but I think I still feel like 25 when I get on to the court,” he said. “I feel that energy, the enthusiasm to hit every ball, play every match. That fire is still burning in me.”
Though LA 2028 is on his mind, he confessed to wanting to take one year at a time. “I would like to take one year at a time because I don’t want to rush and talk about the future. My focus right now is on US Smash and the UTT season, which has been fantastic. I want to get that second trophy for Dabang Delhi.” This will be followed by the Asian Games, which is the focus right now, he said, adding, “I have realised that to be a part of a bigger event you need to plan your calendar really well.” Since the tournaments are taking place back-to-back, he emphasised on the need for players to plan their calendars and to periodise instead of playing every tournament. “You have to play a few tournaments, but play those that are good,” he suggested. Sathiyan now feels compelled to ensure his plans align on different levels: “Family, personal, and professional levels.” And if all goes well, he is confident of surviving another four to five years or “one more cycle at the highest level.”
If age is not on one’s side, surviving in the gruelling circuit is not easy; one long break and somebody would be lurking to take your place. Sathiyan seems to know too well about this challenge, especially at the elite level. “I think that’s been the biggest challenge with WTT coming in now,” he said. “They made it very, very competitive. When I was younger, like 21-years-old, I used to play nine or ten tournaments. Now you end up playing 18-20 tournaments in a year. It’s about 20 weeks of just international tournaments. The ranking system resets every year. So the point system and the tournament structure have changed. They have a 48-tournament calendar; the best eight is taken, but the competitiveness is so high that if you get one injury, you have to start from scratch.”
He illustrated the situation with his own example. “I didn’t play tournaments for two-three months and though I didn’t miss any points, the rankings dropped by ten places. But I’m pretty sure if you’re playing and preparing well, that confidence will help you to build the rankings. To remain at the top, you really need to be physically and mentally fit.”
But for remaining physically fit, say after 29-30 years of age, one has to strive too hard. He justified this too with his own experience. “I think a couple of months ago, when I hit the top 50, I was the only Asian above 30 years to be in the top 50. You can imagine that has never happened in table tennis before,” he informed.
Competing under these playing fields also highlights the importance of recovery. Sathiyan said he has a good team that takes care of his fitness and recovery. For his team now, the focus inevitably is to bag an Asian Games medal like in 2018. “We want to repeat or even do better,” he corroborated. “We have a great chance. We have a young and experienced team coming together. I’m pretty sure we will have a new flavour at the games. Hoping that we can get to the podium in men’s team, men’s doubles, and in mixed too.”
Sathiyan will continue with Harmeet Desai in the men’s doubles as they have been playing together for quite some time. “We have had successful stints at the Commonwealth Games and we have a successful stint at WTT,” he said, hoping for the winning streak to continue.