Santo Olympics of table tennis

Nepal's Sanyog Kapali clashed with Santu on Wednesday in the finals of the South Asian Olympic Qualifiers held at the National Table Tennis Coaches Center in Lanchaur. Both of them won the semi-final on Wednesday and made sure to become the third Olympian for the country. Although India, which is considered strong in South Asia, has already been selected, this time the luck of other countries has shone.

The final match was very exciting. There were many ups and downs during this process. Sometimes Santu looked strong and sometimes coincidental. However, the four-time Nepalese champion and number one player Santulu won the game. He won the match 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11 and 11-9 with a competitive 4-3 set. After winning, Santu collapsed on the court. His opponent Sanyog threw the bat up and accepted his defeat.

'I couldn't stop myself after winning. I cried with joy. This is like a dream come true for me. The goal of any athlete is to play in the Olympics, because it is the biggest festival of world sports. Now I'm playing the same Olympics, so naturally I'm very happy.'

Although technically both players are sophisticated in their own right, Santu is relatively experienced. He was able to take full advantage of it. Santu easily won the first set. After leading 8-7, he won three points in a row from that position. Coincidence returned in the second set. He was trailing 7-8 at one point. But then scored four points in a row. Santu won the third set relatively easily. After leading 7-4, he managed to take advantage of it. The fourth set was even easier for Santu. He took an 8-3 lead and made it his own.

Sanyag won the fifth and sixth sets by equal scores. The most sensational turn of the entire match was seen in the last set. Santu looked a little more aggressive in the deciding set, taking an early 7-4 lead. That's when Sanyog took a timeout and made it 10-8. Santu also took a clever 'timeout' at that juncture and the contest swung in his favour. "At the beginning, I was a bit scared to have a player from my own country in the final," said Santu later.

"This is a very big achievement for Nepali table tennis," coach Mohan Vasukala responded, "Now the names of table tennis and Santu will never be erased in Nepali sports history." Now, based on this achievement, Nepali table tennis should move forward and do better. Now Santu will undergo more special training for the Olympics. He came to Nepal from Australia to play this selection. Santu studying in Australia was preparing there.

He is considered to be the best player Nepali table tennis has ever had. He has also confirmed it by qualifying for the Olympics. "I believed that I would do well up to the South Asian level. However, he did not believe that he would play the Olympics. When the South Asian selection was made, I started dreaming," he said. "I was practicing regularly even though I was in Australia, and now the result has been achieved."

In the semifinals, Santu defeated Sri Lanka's Chamira Ginige 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8. Coincidentally, he also defeated Jayasanka de Silva of Sri Lanka by 13-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7. In the women's final, Fatimath Ali of Maldives defeated Bimandi Bandra of Sri Lanka 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-5. Along with this, Fatimath has become the first athlete to be selected for the Olympics in the overall sports history of Maldives.