G Sathiyan on Friday became only the second Indian to reach the men's singles quarterfinals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships when he defeated An-Ji Song of North Korea here.
Sathiyan, currently the top-ranked Indian in the world, hardly broke a sweat as he notched up a 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 win against his North Korean opponent in the pre-quarterfinal match that lasted 22 minutes.
The only other occasion when an Indian paddler had reached the singles quarterfinals was when Sudhir Phadke beat a Chinese in the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Championships in Pyongyang way back in 1976.
The Indian, ranked 30 in the world, will take on world number 4 Chinese Lin Gaoyuan in the quarterfinals.
"I am extremely happy to reach the quarterfinals for the first time and it has been a wonderful journey so far. I would really love to set the bar high for Indian table tennis and hungry to go even further in the tournament," said an elated Saithyan.
Asked what his plans would be against his opponent in the quarterfinals, Sathiyan said: "I will go with an aim to win and try to play my best. I am underdog and all the pressure is on Gaoyuan."
Reminded that he and Achanta Sharath Kamal had an impressive outing against Gao and his partner earlier in the day in men's doubles, Sathiyan said, "Yes, we were almost in the medal round and that would have been historic. But in the decider they (Chinese) pulled it off."
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