Road to Rio: Achanta Sharath Kamal, India's finest paddler, looks for last hurrah at Olympics 2016

Name: Achanta Sharath Kamal

Age: 34

Discipline (sport): Table Tennis

Category: Men’s singles

Qualification: Sharath Kamal booked his Rio berth after beating Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan 4-3 (12-14 11-6 3-11 7-11 11-4 11-7 11-6) in the final round of Stage 2 of the Asian Olympics Qualifiers

Strengths: It would be fair to say, Sharath Kamal’s ’never say die’ attitude has got him to Rio. With age not on his side, and injuries threatening to derail his Olympics bid, he surprised everyone by making a remarkable comeback . This attitude of his, coupled with years of experience, will come in handy for the paddler in Brazil.

Past Olympic performance: Sharath Kamal has represented India at the three Olympics so far. He suffered a second round exit at 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He had failed to qualify for 2012 London Olympics.

Past record (best performances): - Gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne

- Gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (Team)

- Gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi (Doubles)

- Bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi  (Team)

Rio Prospects: With a world rank of 69, Sharath Kamal has little chance of a medal in Rio, and a quarter-final place would be considered a good achievement. However, as the past tells us, the Indian paddler has potential to upset odds.

Achanta Sharath Kamal, often said to be one of India’s table tennis players, will take part in his third Olympic Games at Rio. He didn’t impress in his first two appearances, going out in the second round on both occasions.

However, few thought the Tamil Nadu-born player would be able to make his third Olympic appearance when he suffered a hip and hamstring injury in 2015. But the experienced paddler fought his way out of it and ensured his passage to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Sharath Kamal’s rose to prominence in the Indian sporting world when he stunned home favourite Australian William Henzell in the final of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne to become the first Indian to win a gold medal in table tennis at Commonwealth Games. Apart from his individual medal, he also helped the men’s team to a gold medal in Melbourne and was part of the Indian men’s team that won the bronze in Delhi. Four years later, along with Subhajit Saha, he won the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Men’s doubles category. However, he failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, triggering concerns that it was the beginning of the end for the paddler.

Known to bounce back from tough situations, Sharath Kamal then focused all his energies on qualifying for Rio Olympics 2016 and started his preparations immediately after the disappointment in 2012. His attempts to reach a third Olympics were marred by a bad hamstring injury in 2015 that forced him into a six-month bed-rest.

“Things were running in the right direction, when all of a sudden the hamstring injury had to come at the peak of my performances. I was 32 in the world when it happened and I was laid off for more than six months.  And from there I had to start all of it all over again. Things were hard after the injury, but now I am happy that I can perform at Rio.” Sharath Kamal told Sportskeeda . 

Despite Sharath Kamal’s optimism, the injury could still hamper his chances at the Games, according to former India coach Kamlesh Mehta.  “He had suffered a hip and hamstring injury during the World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, China, last year in May. It was a bad injury which required him to stay away from sports for a few months. It can impact his performance at Rio,” the former Olympian told  Times of India . 

Sharath Kamal will have to bring all his experience into play if he has to leave a mark on what would in all probability be his last Olympics. His former coach Mehta believes that anything beyond the first round would be a bonus return from India’s biggest ever table tennis contingent for the Olympics, but Sharath Kamal is certain to give it his all to spring a surprise in Rio.

With inputs from agencies