‘Sathiyan and I are great friends but my goal is to be No.1 Indian player and enter world top 50,’ says Harmeet Desai after winning TT title at National Games

For some time now, Harmeet Desai has been itching to get out of the shadows of 10-time national Table Tennis champion Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan. The National Games in Surat might turn out to be his jail-break moment under the sun.
Backed the thunderous home support, Gujarat’s Harmeet didn’t stutter in winning the first two games. Sathiyan managed to fight back to win the next two, but Harmeet raised his game to win the next two and take the match 11-9, 11-8, 9-11 8-11, 11-7, 11-9.
“Sathiyan and I are great friends and know each other well but we’re both trying to take our games to the next level. My goal is to be the top-ranked Indian player while also entering the top-50 of world rankings. I think if I keep up my current form, it’s possible,” Harmeet told The Indian Express.
“I kept believing. I knew that if I kept a certain level of pressure I could win. My game plan was very simple. I knew I had to play very aggressively not only to put pressure but to save myself from his attacks,” Harmeet said.

Harmeet Desai @HarmeetDesai is our Men’s Singles Gold Medal🥇😍Congratulations🌟#KheloGujarat #NationalGames2022 #36thNationalGames 🏓
pic.twitter.com/KWw1ZgTLx2
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) September 24, 2022
Though the match against Sathiyan was the actual test, he still had to face Soumyajit Ghosh in the final. Harmeet put on a tremendous exhibition and dominated his opponent 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 to win the title.
In the past, though Harmeet has had an odd win over Sathiyan like in the men’s singles final of the 2019 Commonwealth TT Championships, Sathiyan has always been the higher-ranked player when it comes to national or world rankings. And Harmeet wants to change that.
Currently ranked 73rd in the world, Harmeet was pivotal to India defending their Commonwealth Games men’s team gold in Birmingham. He was also part of the squad that won gold at the Gold Coast Games in 2018.
In Birmingham, he paired up with Sathiyan to give India a 1-0 lead in the men’s team final against Singapore before pulling off a crucial win over Clarence Chew in the third singles to give India the victory.

Men’s Singles semifinal🏓Sathiyan Gnanasekaran vs Harmeet Desai
Live the best rallies from our top stars🏓more at https://t.co/uxA2a6Eqgh 🎥 pic.twitter.com/N0r8ubRMpg
— DD Sports – National Games 2022 🇮🇳 (@ddsportschannel) September 24, 2022
The stark improvement in his game has not come suddenly, he says. He’s worked on quite a few aspects of his game before the Commonwealth Games.
“I worked quite a lot on my footwork and receives. That has improved my game and it was one of the reasons I did well here too (at the National Games).
While Harmeet raised his game at the National Games, winning the men’s team gold as well as a bronze in men’s doubles, he was astonished at the home support he received during the tournament. It definitely pumped him up, especially for the match against Sathiyan.
“The crowd has really been tremendous. I haven’t had such support for me ever. It’s so good to see people skip their schools or offices and come to watch the games. That’s really a good sign to promote table tennis as well as other sports. I don’t think people really came to watch sports here before so it’s really great,” he said.
The next big event for the Indian team is the TT team World Championships which will be played in Chengdu, China from September 30. Though Sharath has opted out of the tournament, Harmeet said they have a balanced team.
“Our goal is to finish in the top 8 because that has never been done any Indian team. I think we have the team to do it. It’s also important we do well so we place ourselves in a good position for the qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” he said.