Sathiyan puts his hopes on Oly grade table

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 21

Paddler G Sathiyan cannot wait to get his hands on the San Ei Absolute Advanced TT Table that he had ordered last month. It was supposed to reach by now but regulations imposed due to the pandemic delayed the delivery of the table that is being produced exclusively for the Tokyo Olympics.

I have no idea how exactly this table is going to behave and that is why we have ordered it. How much it will bounce or how will the surface behave are few of the things I will be looking at whatever time I get to train on the new table –  G Sathiyan

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The 28-year-old, however, is not too perturbed about the delay and thinks a week of practice on the new table will go a long way in helping him cope with the conditions that are waiting for Indian paddlers in Tokyo.

“Indian tables like Stag are very fast, very bouncy and spin more,” Sathiyan said. “They spin more because the surface has more grains on it. Grains mean there will be more friction and the ball will spin more. The other tables abroad are slower. There will be less spin and because of it there will be more rallies and it could be exhausting physically,” he added.

“San Ei absolute advance is the exclusive model that will be used at the Olympics. I have no idea how exactly this table is going to behave and that is why we have ordered it. How much it will bounce or how will the surface behave are few of the things I will be looking at whatever time I get to train on the new table. It will be a head start for me going to the Olympics as we are hearing three days of quarantine in Tokyo so that will give us fewer hours to practice,” Sathiyan added.

Sathiyan hopes that the table, which is estimated to cost a little over Rs4 lakh, will reach Chennai by the end of this month. The paddler wanted to get the table after earning his ticket for the Olympics in April but his plans had to be pushed back due to the second wave and the subsequent lockdown.

“We started the conversations to import the table right after the qualification but then we were hit by the second wave and even Japan went into emergency so it got delayed,” the world No. 38 Indian paddler said.

“But I reckon 60-70 hours of training with the table would be great for me. It is not as if I will have to start learning the game afresh, it is a matter of small adjustments,” he added.