Chennai: Sharath Kamal, who has been flying India’s flag high on the international table tennis circuit for over a decade, stated that he still has a lot of fire in his belly and he is aiming for the singles gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Chennai-based paddler said Thursday he still has some important goals to achieve till the 2020 Olympics and has not made up his mind on taking up coaching after his playing career. He also asserted that his career is on the upswing since the 2016 Rio Games.
Besides winning the singles gold in Melbourne 2006, Sharath won the yellow metal in the men’s doubles in the following edition in New Delhi alongside Subhajit Saha.
“After the Olympics in Rio, my performance has been on an upswing. I reached the quarterfinals in the Austrian Open, won the Indian championships for a seventh time and made it to semifinal at the Indian Open in Delhi in February this year. In the recent Asian Championships, the team won gold in the first division and in singles I reached the round of last 16 for the first time in my career,” Sharath told this agency.
“This has been the best part of my career as far as performance is considered and I am hoping to keep the graph going up and would like to win back the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” added the paddler.
Sharath, the highest ranked Indian at 54, recently launched a coaching programme at a school in the city in association with Borussia Dusseldorf, the club he represents in the German league. “The first year, the German club will be funding the project,” Sharath informed. “The aim is to help build table tennis at the grassroots level and if time permits I would like to take it (the project) to government schools.”
On plans to start a coaching academy of his own sometime in the future, Sharath said he is yet to chalk out after-retirement plans. “I still haven’t decided on my coaching plans but all that I know for now is that I will stay with the game in some sort or another,” said Sharath. “Table tennis is my identity and I have got a lot from this sport so I would like to give back to the sport,” he added.
PTI