WTT Contender: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beats Chen Yuanyu to storm into quarterfinals

Ace Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran outplayed China's Chen Yuanyu 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 12-10) in men's singles to storm into the quarterfinals of the WTT Contender in Zagreb, Croatia on Friday (June 17).

The 29-year-old has had an incredible run at the WTT Contender so far ahead of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG), scheduled to begin on July 28. Sathiyan will represent India along with Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sanil Shetty and Harmeet Desai at the upcoming CWG.

Expressing his excitement after his brilliant win, he tweeted:

"DREAM RUN CONTINUES Stormed into the quarterfinals in Men Singles after a strong performance tonight with a straight set victory against Chen from China here in WTT Contender Zagreb 2022 Will next take on the legendary Chuang Chih Yuan from Taiwan tomorrow."

Earlier, Gnanasekaran had pulled off a 3-1 upset win over the World No. 6 and reigning European champion Jorgic Darko in the ongoing table tennis tournament.

The World No. 34 bounced back into the match after initially trailing 1-0. With some perfectly executed shots, he delivered a 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 win over the second-seeded Slovenian paddler in their Round-of-32 clash on Thursday (June 16).

An elated Gnanasekaran later wrote on Twitter:

"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."

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WTT Contender 2022: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran vs Chuang Chih-Yuan quarterfinal schedule

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will take on higher-ranked veteran Taiwanese table tennis player Chuang Chih-Yuan in the quarterfinals of the WTT Contender on Saturday (June 18).

Here's the schedule for the match:

Date: June 18, 2022 Timing: 3.30pm IST