Sathiyan downs Soumyajit to grab gold in CYG

Pune, Oct 16 (UNI) In the end it came down to the two Indian paddlers amongst whom Sathiyan Gnanasekaran got the better of Soumyajit Ghosh and ended his unbeaten run in the competition to win the gold medal in the boy's singles event of the Commonwealth Youth Games here today.

Sathiyan finished unbeaten in the competition and overwhelmed his doubles teammate Soumyajit Ghosh 4-2 (11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9) in a half-an-hour long battle.

Soumyajit had to be content with the silver, while the bronze was won by Qiang Shen of Canada who beat Australian Robert Frank 4-3 (5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7).

Sathiyan did not take much time and surged into the lead very early into the match forcing Soumyajit under pressure and the pressure played on the silver medallist as he made some unwanted errors at crucial stages of the game.

''I want to represent my country first at the Youth Olympics in 2010 and then of course, Olympics is my dream. I would surely look to represent and win a medal at the 2012 London Olympics for my country,'' Sathiyan said after his win.

Soumyajit had played some exceptional games so far in the competition but today, probably, it wasn't his day but all credit to Sathiyan who did not let his rival to take an early advantage in the game and kept the match under his control.

Earlier in the day, Soumyajit and Sathiyan defied all resistance from their opponents to make it an all-India singles' final.

While the girls found the going tough today, in the boys singles, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran outpointed Shenkiang 4-1 (11-9, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7) but not before his Canadian rival made him work hard for every point and Soumyajit came back from a game down to overpower Robert Frank of Australia 4-1 (4-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6, 11-4).

In the first semi-final, for boys between Sathiyan and Shenkiang, there were long rallies exchanged between the two, but eventually the Indian paddler held his nerves to overcome some anxious moments and won the match to sail into the final.

Sathiyan, who combined with Soumyajit yesterday to win the gold in boys doubles, was up against a determined Shenkiang who made him earn every point.

Earlier in the match, Sathiyan was leading by two games, but the Canadian fought hard and staged a great come back only to see his rival won two successive games on the trot.

While Shenkiang remained cool and composed under some nerve wracking moments, Sathiyan looked showed his excitement with every point that he earned. Though there was a contrast in the way both the paddlers expressed their emotions, there was not much too chose when it came to playing the game.

However, the Indian played some good skillful strokes to have the last laugh and will come back again to decide the gold medal winner, while Shenkiang will fight it out for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Soumyajit exhibited some thrilling smashes and backhand returns to emerge victorious against the Aussie who gave a scre to his Indian counterpart on more than a few occasions.

The game between the two saw some exciting rallies but just at the end, Soumyajit sensed victory up the tempo to book a summit clash with Sathiyan.

UNI RAR AB KN2031