Indian table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on Thursday clinched the WTT Feeder Beirut 2024 at the Al Kawthar Secondary School in Lebanon by defeating fellow countryman Manav Thakkar in the men’s singles final. World No. 103 G Sathiyan defeated World No. 74 Thakkar 3-1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4) in a largely one-sided tie after the first game.
Sathiyan lost the first set before winning the next three to win the tie. Earlier in the semi-finals, Sathiyan pulled off a significant upset against Chuang Chih-yuan of Taipei. The Indian player defeated Chuang, the previous world No. 3 in a tense tie (11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9). Chuang currently holds a singles ranking of 39th.
Likewise, to advance to the final, Manav Thakkar defeated Republic of Korea’s AN Jaehyun, the previous bronze medallist at the World Championships, in three straight games (11-9, 11-8, 12-10).
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Manav Thakkar participated in the men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles finals on a very hectic day in Beirut, but he was unsuccessful in all three of his matches.