Indian table tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal eyes elusive Olympic glory in Paris

The Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games did really well this time in Birmingham as they ended up with 61 medals in total despite the exclusion of shooting and archery from the last edition. While there were several different medalists who made their debut in Birmingham, there was one name who has been omnipresent for Indian sports for the last few decades. Table Tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kaml once again bagged four medals from the Commonwealth Games out of which three were gold and one was silver.

It was a special occasion for him as he won the gold medal in Men’s SIngles after 16 long years. He also bagged the gold medal in Mixed Doubles alongwith Sreeja Akula aand that was one of the medals that he did not have in his illustrious cabinet. He only missed out in the Men’s Doubles finals where he and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost to the English duo of Liam Pitchford and Drinkhall.

It is sensational to think how he has played the game for two decades now and still he keeps on pushing and fighting to achieve more every time he is out there to represent India. Despite achieving so much, Sharath Kamal is in no mood to retire right now as he wants to fight even harder to give himself a shot at the Olympics in Paris. Out of all the achievements in several global events, Achanta Sharath Kamal wants to win an elusive Olympic medal.

“It feels great to get my personal best in CWG. My highest was three, this time I won a fourth. Fitness is key, it is something which I have been able to keep up, keep track of myself. I am working a lot to keep myself fit,” Sharath told PTI.

“I always try to keep my body and mind fit, especially because the reflexes of youngsters are fast, and I just try to be at par so that I can compete with them,” he added.

He has won 13 Commonwealth Games medals and 2 bronze medals at the Asian Games but he is not looking to wind up everything and retire. Instead he is looking to get better, fitter and faster to compete with the top players in the world as he wants to take a realistic shot at an Olympic medal in the next two years in Paris.

The Men’s Team event in Birmingham saw India winning the Gold medal and Sharath Kamal feels that it is quite possible that the Indian team gets qualification in the team events and snatch a medal. It will fulfill his lifelong wish of winning an Olympics medal.

“I want to take two years at a time. So Paris could be a landmark year where we could qualify for the team event, and hopefully, win a medal. It’s a process, first we arrived at the CWG level, then we established ourselves at the Asian level also, and next is the Olympics,” Sharath said.

Sharath Kamal is very optimistic about the chances of winning the Olympic medal and also India’s chances of being a superpower in table tennis. It is the belief that keeps the 40-year-old paddler going as he plays like he is still in his twenties.