CHENNAI: It was an eventful day for paddler G Sathiyan as he played his part in India making the semifinals in mixed doubles and men’s doubles categories of the WTT Contender at Tunisia on Thursday.
He teamed up with Manika Batra to make the mixed doubles semis. The duo defeated the French pair Alexandre Cassin and Prithika Pavade 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-8) to make the last-four stage.
Earlier in the day, Sathiyan joined forces with Harmeet Desai to get the better of the Hungarian pair — Patrik Juhasz and Bence Majoros — 3-1 (12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6) to enter the men’s doubles semifinals.
In the round of 16 encounter, Sathiyan and Harmeet had defeated the German pair of Tobias Hippler and Kilian Ort 3-2 (15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10).
In the mixed doubles quarterfinals, Sathiyan and Manika Batra opened the proceedings by pocketing the opening game 11-8. However, the French pair turned things around to win the second game 11-7.
Cassin and Prithika went on to win the third game 11-8 before the Sathiyan-Manika pair turned things around by winning the subsequent game 11-4. In the decider, it was Sathiyan and Manika who took the lead and ensured they sealed the deal 11-8.