FPJ Exclusive: Indian Table Tennis Legend Achanta Sharath Kamal Has Not Given Up On Olympic Dreams Just Yet

Q: You've had such a long journey of over two decades. What are your thoughts?..

A: When we look at it it's 2002 and 2003 February was the first time I played for the Indian team in an official tournament. There was nearly 5-6 years when I played before and around 1998 is when I decided to go pro in the sport. I think those 5-6 years has defined what I am today and the struggle period in time and those 4-5 years when I was struggling to make it to the national team but still persistent. It helped me understand what lows can be and how do I come back and learn from those. And still keep doing and enjoying what I like to do the best. When its been such a long career there have been some really great highs in the career and some lows as well.

For example, 2018 was a fantastic year for me with two bronze medals at the Asian Games, three medals at the Commonwealth Games. Those Asian Games medals are very, very precious. First time in 60 years in Indian table tennis history, we were able to get those medals. I've had highs like that and ofcourse there have been some really bad lows like there was an injury that I had in the hamstring. It almost threatened my career and my regular day to day life so I was on a wheelchair for four weeks and on crutches for another four weeks.

I slowly got back to the sport and even without that injury there have been lows. From 30 in the world I went down to 90 in the world within a span of 3-4 months. When I look back at it, it's been a mix of emotions that I have been through, the highs and lows. The highs outweigh the lows and when you have such a long career it's invariably the highs that stand out.

Q: What was the finest moment of your career if there was a singular moment that you could think of?..

A: Lot of people ask me this question. But, it's not a fair question but I have to ask you this question. Over such a long career, there have been different instances that at that point in time has been the best thing. Like for example, the 2006 CWG when table tennis shot to fame and I was part of the team that won the gold for the first time in the history of CWG table tennis where India could win the gold. Then again going on to win my singles gold. People didn't expect anything from table tennis and they didn't even know who we were and what the sport can do etc.

That time giving table tennis the high we got was something very, very special at that point of time. I needed that to announce my arrival at the table tennis map at that point of time. So, here is Sharath Kamal on the international table tennis map and I was doing well and there was major potential. So I was 130 in 2006 when I won the CWG although my highest ranking was 30 which I came down to 12 years after that. Finishing CWG in 2022 with three gold and a silver was phenomenal at the age of 40. Every session I had to play three matches. In one session, I will play 5-6 hours so that was my training schedule. We nearly trained for 8-10 months prior to the CWG.

Q: Your father and uncle were both coaches, they played as well at the state and national level. How much of an advantage is it to have a sound family backing and background. When you are looking to pursue professional sport, how much of a difference does that make?..

A: A lot of help comes in from the family, a lot of understanding and sacrifice also comes in from the family. I was fortunate enough to have that support from my father and uncle with them being players themselves who turned into coaches. Their goals and their ambitions as coaches was put down on me so already when I started playing in the academies there used to be state level players and national level players. There were also Olympians in the academy so their goal was to have international representation. They made me believe that I am the one who should start to win international medals for the country by which a lot of people will start to believe that it will be possible. There was a lot of support at home but at the same time, it also acts as a disadvantage. It is always a talking point so my mom would say there will not be any table tennis discussion on the dining table.

Q: Sharath, talking about your journey at the Olympics. You've been a part of five Olympics starting with Athens in 2004 and ending with Paris in 2024. Talk us through what it was like being at the spectacle like the Olympics.

A: I was 22 when I went to Athens. When I qualified, a lot of people were talking about the Olympics and I didn't understand why they were talking and I didn't understand the magnitude of the occasion and didn't know the magnitude. Going for the Olympics qualifiers from the second time onwards there were butterflies in my stomach. You have jitters and the national team was taking me for a tournament and I went with them. I'm just walking around, a 22-year-old and haven't been much in the Games. I was going straight to the Olympics before going to CWG or Asian Games and it was quite overwhelming. I understood how big the Olympics was when I met my sports idols who I used to see in sports magazines. Just walking into the dining hall at the cafeteria, rows and rows of hundreds of chairs in the Olympic village. I was entering the dining hall and I see Roger Federer with his hair let loose. He just having his hair let loose and couldn't recognize. I didn't have the guts to say hi so I took my food and quickly went to find a chair as close as possible to him but at the same time not disturbing him. In my mind, I'm thinking like I'm dining with Roger Federer on the same table. I also remember seeing Andy Roddick coming in wearing denim shorts. They were the No 1s at that time.

Q: How do you feel about not having ticked the box of not winning an Olympic medal although you have practically all the medals in your cabinet?..

A: As a young kid, being at a world ranking of 300 in 2003, but the goal was to win an OIympic medal. In table tennis, the chances of you winning an Olympic medal is if you're in the top 10 in the world. Very rarely has someone won it outside the top 10 won an Olympic medal. I have no regrets because I tried everything I could. I made lakhs and lakhs of players to believe that if Sharath Kamal can do it, anyone can do it.

Q: Who do you see among the younger crop of players who have real potential to win an Olympic medal?..

A: Ofcourse, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula are there but I feel we still have a long way to go to win an Olympic medal but we have stabilized ourselves at the Commonwealth Games.

Q: Where do we lack in comparison to say the Chinese or Japanese players?..

A: The comparison is not on the right tangent. From where we come and from where they come, the kind of tradition they have had in the sport. The kind of support and infrastructure they have been having is very different. Table tennis is a mature sport in these countries where they have had world champions from 1960s. We've had one player in the top 30s in the 2016s and 2017s. So we are way behind. Of course we are getting better but it will take time.

Q: How's your camaraderie with PV Sindhu, who was your fellow flagbearer at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony?..

A: There is a bit of history there. I have known her and both her parents. Both her parents come from a sporting background as well. They both played volleyball for India. PV Ramana was the sports officer in Hyderabad in the Railways and I was working in the Railways. So, in 2002 we were playing the Inter-Railway in Hyderabad. Then he got a call that myself and another player has to report for duty for the Asian Games in Delhi. We reached Delhi and somehow the table tennis team didn't get the clearance and we had to come back.

This was my first interaction with him. Thereafter in 2016, when I met her and I knew that Ramana sir was her father and she would call me 'Anna'. It was really nice that we both were the flagbearers. It was a great moment and I was very excited for the moment and I was nervous as the day grew closer.