[WTT] MA Long vs GNANASEKARAN Sathiyan H/L | CHN vs IND | 2022 ITTF Worlds

Head to head, they've only played once before and it went the way of Ma Long. I think I remember seeing clips of it on Satyen's social media. Satyen was as high as 24 in the world. The look here at the 33 year old. October 20th, he'll be 34. He's world ranked number two currently. The only male player to win two Olympic singles gold medals. On the other side, Satyen Yana Shekharan. 29 years old, world ranked number 37 currently. One of the last few to beat some of the top Chinese players. Here we go. Love all. Even though he was driven way back behind the table, no hesitation nor fear. Flick inside. This is going to be crucial for me. Table, possibly punches. We'll see. Beautiful combination. It was the aggressive backhand early. Surgery. That seems to be the spot. Changing it up. Can play the reverse pendulum too, but it's very rare to see. Beautiful shot right here to open. And just a comment on that identical. Simply the precision. Ooh, let me think about that for a second. To see how he is outside of a team event. Oh, that's beautiful. Down the line and quick. That's interesting. I also think what you said about Macau coming up. Oh, what a flick. Deception. Perfect placement. It had it all. Didn't even look like that was in kind of forehand flick territory there, but he comes across it yet. He's able to come down the line. Prize factor pays off here. Two points down now. Slow and spinny. Completely changing the rhythm. It's rare to see Ma Long caught out of sorts. He was saying, it's coming, Ma Long, it's coming. Yep. Some shimmy, shimmy, yaw. And that was a tight one. Good receive here. Ma Long making it quite difficult, but Satie knew. And a big shot here. That was almost too fast to see in real time. That was incredible. I mean, he took the ball early. We've seen stroke and it finished high above his head. What a perfect setup. That receive took away everything that Ma Long had put on his wish. And it's how he played beautifully. Interesting. Same receive again. Well, at the end of the time, he's going to make that shot. And a tough break after getting a little net here. Satie, Satie keeps fighting. The fighting spirit, a little acknowledgement for some fortune that was almost too quick to notice in real time. And fifth time's a charm. Ma Long down the line, sets it up. Nice serve, third ball attack. And it was a marathon game number one. 26 points played before someone could have a two-point advantage at the end after deuce. In terms of plays, it coming over the table half long. These rallies test the receiver. You can see a little bit more of it, right? It's funny, I feel like there are certain serves glamorous or doesn't draw that much attention. Interesting. Getting the points efficiently. A little bit off the net. Ma Long apologizes, acknowledges his fortune, but earns five game points in the process. Oh, short this touch play. Ma Long's received right off the bounce in the touch back, but there, still the soft hands to control the ball. Well, net, two games to zero. 14-12 in the first, and more than double the points of his opponent in the second. This is the Ma Long we expected to see come back. Game three, he's done an outstanding job over the years. Starting it off. Got it, oh! And you can't fault him for taking the shots out here. What's effective, it just happened to look amazing when they're playing the shots. It's funny, I think the players that you're talking about are most of the people watching right now. Myself included. He's feeding this person information and encouragement. I mean, I think a lot of the world wonders, whenever it is, will he be coaching? Never be satisfied, always be humble. Oh, nothing humble about this shot. Hungry for victory, always. From behind the table, a little break off the net. A good long serve, it has intent, and guide. The forehand, once again, with the open shoulders, unstoppable, himself also the president of the CTTA. Big email going out today. How much promotion can there really be? And not! That is absolute respect from me. Ma Long saying, I must take you seriously for every point, but what a way to finish, to put a stamp of authority on game number three, a bagel. We're gonna have an interview with Ma Long. I'll be curious to hear how much English comes into play. Usually he tends to save it for after titles and when the tournament is done. But 17 points total, that's less than six average per game.