SATHIYAN OUT OF TT WORLD CUP

CHENGDU: G Sathiyan’s dream run at the International Table Tennis Federation Men’s World Cup came to an end after he went down to former world No 1 Timo Boll here on Saturday. World No 30 Sathiyan, making his World Cup debut, went down 1-4 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11, 8-11) to the German in the pre-quarters. Sathiyan started on a bright note, taking a 1-0 lead, but Boll replied quickly to level the match. The two-time World Cup champion then dominated the tie, winning the next three games easily. “The moment I realised how good I have played in my debut ITTF World Cup is when the entire Chinese crowd gave me a loud applause on leaving the match hall !! Put up a great fight but lost