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The Times of India
The Times of India
Sport
Jaspreet Sahni | TIMESOFINDIA.COM

'I am playing my best table tennis at 40': Sharath Kamal decodes India's medal chances at CWG 2022

NEW DELHI: "My biggest recall of India at the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games (CWG) is that guy with the hair band playing table tennis." The 19-year-old teenager who said this during a conversation with the author couldn't remember the name of the player, but could almost portray the picture. "That tall guy playing TT for India almost forever," the youngster added, still scratching his head, trying to recall the name, before failing again and being finally told - it's Achanta Sharath Kamal.

After eight medals (4 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze) and 16 years since his first CWG appearance, Sharath remains the ultimate constant in India's CWG contingents, and it's going to stay that way for the next one -- Birmingham 2022, which will be Sharath's fifth CWG appearance. His first was in 2006 in Melbourne, in which he won two golds (men's singles and men's team).

You can't therefore fault the teenager, even if Sharath finds his words amusing and an innocent backhanded compliment pointing at his age.

Sharath's 40 now, but he says "I am playing my best table tennis currently" to swat away doubters.

It's difficult to find fault with that either.

Sharath's fourth Olympic appearance was at 39 years old, and he progressed to the third round -- the best by an Indian at the Games. Just shy of 40, Sharath won his 10th national title. At 38, the star paddler ended his 10-year wait for an international title at the 2020 Qatar Open.

If he says he's playing his best table tennis, the statement is backed by record-breaking performances in the last three years -- not to forget the historic double bronze at the 2018 Asian Games (men's team and mixed doubles).

But to beat India's eight-medal run in the TT hall at the Gold Coast CWG in 2018 will take some doing, admits Sharath, who opened up on India's chances in Birmingham this time, Indian TT's battles off the table, his thoughts on retirement, how he wants to give back to the sport and a lot more in this freewheeling chat with TimesofIndia.com.

We are heading into the Birmingham CWG on the back of historic feats, which coincidentally began with CWG itself in 2018. Talk us through that journey...

Well, actually we've had a lot of hiccups. But I think we've been taking it very professionally and we have pretty much solved those issues. The Olympic Games (Tokyo), we did very well; Asian Championships, we did very well; and the individual tournaments here and there, like now Sathiyan (Gnanasekaran) did extremely well beating world No. 6 (Jorgic Darko), my Qatar Open (won the title in 2020) went on very well. So we've been individually doing quite good also, despite the situation (Covid-19 and suspension of Table Tennis Federation of India by court order).

But is it a realistic hope to improve upon, or maybe match, the 2018 CWG medal haul?

Everybody expects that (since) last time we won eight (medals), so this time how many is it going to be or at least it should be eight or more. Standing up to those expectations is going to be extremely difficult for all of us because that was one of our best performances as a complete team. We are preparing in the right direction for that. I don't know if we will be able to keep up with the expectations, but I'm pretty much sure that we will do well because by and large we have become a very strong table tennis nation. Even competition-wise we are very, very strong.

Is that truer because of the level of competition at the Commonwealth Games, when you compare it to the Asian Games and the Olympics? At CWG, Indian paddlers are among the favourites for medals.

Yes, very much, very true...We have come to a level where India is favorite and we will surely win one or two gold. In the men's team, we stand a very good chance. In men's doubles, we stand a fair chance. Then men's singles also, both myself and Sathiyan will be ranked No. 3 and 4. So that way, if you look at it, we are in a very good position as far as CWG is concerned.

(Sharath with the two bronze medals he won at the 2018 Asian Games - TOI Photo)

Individually, how high would you say the medal chances are for the top three -- Sathiyan, yourself and Manika Batra?

I don't think it will depend on the draw. It will depend more on how we are going to play. There are not going to be major surprises in the draw because we will be seeded quite high. So there won't be anything like a good draw or a bad draw. It will be about a good game or a bad game only.

Manika has started playing mixed doubles with Sathiyan, unlike at the 2018 Asian Games when you partnered her and won bronze....

I'm pairing up with Sreeja Akula because Sathiyan and Manika are looking at the Paris Olympics. They are quite highly ranked (world No. 6).

You mentioned the Olympics, surely you're going to be still around by the time Paris 2024 comes up...

(Smiles) I will be around, but as far as mixed doubles, they (Manika and Sathiyan) prefer to play with each other. My focus is also more on the (men's) team, where we probably have a chance to win a medal.

Many people must have asked you this question already, but tell us how are you looking at your career going forward? Is Paris 2024 still on your roster of targets?

Yes, very much, because Tokyo moved to one year later (held in 2021 after postponement in 2020). Also the Covid break and everything happened. So the preparation has been good enough to take me to Paris 2024. I hope in the (men's) team event we can get a medal. That is what I am looking at.

(Photo: Sharath Kamal Twitter)

Is there anything particular you are targeting as an option after your playing career?

Personally, I really haven't thought about what I'm going to do post retirement. I haven't really given it a thought. I will be around. I will help the younger kids, mentor them. But at this point in time, I still want to focus on getting better and doing the best I can do.

You talk about mentoring and being around me. Is retirement on your mind already?

No, not as of now because I don't know how but I'm playing my best table tennis now. So there's no point in thinking about retiring. I can probably think about it when things are not working well. But at this moment, things are working really well and I'm able to get the best out of myself.

A lot of controversies have also recently surfaced related to accusations against coaches, court cases questioning CWG selection, TTFI's suspension, etc. Are these distractions for you as a player or do you just switch yourself off from these things?

I think it would disturb anybody and everybody. It's just that we had to keep away from all of this, at least I have kept away from all of it and said (told myself), 'okay, let's do what we are best at doing, let's concentrate on that and just keep the focus on (that). These are things that are not in my control, and there's no point in me wasting time on them.' So I have been just trying to focus on myself and my game.

What's your view on the coaching scenario in Indian table tennis, especially when you talk about personal coaches and national coaches?

The national coach and the personal coach have to work in tandem to help the player do his best. It's not like is it the national coach or the personal coach? No. Why should we come to a question of that sort? It doesn't work like that. Everybody plays his or her part to help the player perform at his or her best. So everybody needs to contribute in their respective way. So when a personal coach is able to talk to the foreign coach or the national team coach and say, 'okay, this is what we've been working on or this is something you need to address in the next one week or 10 days or whenever the next camp is' - everybody is working in the same direction.

(Photo: Sharath Kamal Twitter)

How much does having a foreigner as national coach matter, because it's something that the players have demanded in the past, but it did not happen?

You need somebody who is able to help you. Whether it is a foreigner or an Indian, it doesn't matter so much. You need somebody who's knowledgeable and who can help you in any particular way. Again, it all comes down to the cost and if we're able to pay that price, we should be able to get good coaches. The Indian coaches are also growing as the players are growing. Hopefully, sooner or later we won't need to search so much for coaches.

Maybe a few years down the line we can see you in that role...

Not really. I'm not looking at being a coach because I would like to be on the administrative side or at least like a sports director or a high-performance director. I can contribute more in those positions.

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