Recently-retired Indian table tennis great A Sharath Kamal has given himself 11 years to produce the country's first Olympic medallist in the racket sport and German football club Borussia Dortmund could end up being his unlikely ally in pursuit of this path-breaking dream.
Sharath's contribution to the game goes beyond the staggering numbers, including seven gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, two path-breaking bronze medals at the Asian Games and five appearances at the Summer Olympics.
Indian table tennis legend A Sharath Kamal has announced that the WTT Contender Chennai, scheduled for March 25-30, will be his last tournament as a professional athlete.
Sharath Kamal's illustrious two-decade career came to an end on Saturday as he lost to Snehit Suravajjula in the men's singles round of 16 match at the WTT Star Contender 2025.
Manav Thakkar pulled off a nail-biting victory against the experienced Achanta Sharath Kamal as U Mumba TT defeated Chennai Lions 8-7 in an exciting clash of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024.
'For the next nine months to one year I would still be an active player.'
Flag-bearers PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal will lead the 78-strong Indian contingent, representing 12 disciplines, on a historic journey down the Seine River.
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TT ace Sharath Kamal eyes administrative role while charting 'roadmap' ahead
A rich talent pool of players promises a bright future for Indian table tennis despite the recent retirement of stalwart Sharath Kamal, said Dronacharya awardee coach Sandeep Gupta.
India's flag-bearer for Paris Olympics, Achanta Sharath Kamal, on Wednesday recalled the most memorable moments from his five appearances at the Games so far.
Six-time World Champion Mary Kom, bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, will be assisted by luger Shiva Keshavan, who has been appointed the deputy chef de mission.
With Monday's sensational gold, Sharath has taken his overall medal tally to 13 at the CWG, since making his Games debut in 2006.
Later in the day, the Indian women's doubles pair of Diya Chitale and Sreeja Akula will take on Korean combination of Jihee Jeon and Shin Yubin in the semi-finals.
India's tally to two medals with one silver and one bronze.
Achanta Sharath Kamal said the ongoing protest by the wrestlers has shown the importance of an athletes' body in all National Sports Federations.
Sharath is the lone Khel Ratna award recipient, 25 sportspersons, including shuttlers Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, track and field athletes Eldhose Paul and Avinash Sable, were conferred with the Arjuna Award.
India's top paddler upset world number 24 Zoran Primorac of Croatia in the Spanish League tie.
India's top paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal beat Segun Toriola of Nigeria 11-6, 15-13, 11-8, 11-3 in the semi-final
Tokyo Olympics bronze-winning boxer Lovlina Borgohain's allegations of "disrespectful and gender-discriminatory behaviour" against national federation's executive director Col Arun Malik are being investigated.
Sharath Kamal struggled in the first game but pulled himself up just in time to beat Portugal's Tiago Polonia 2-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 in 49 minutes.
Achanta Sharath Kamal was the only Indian to survive the second round heat in men's singles.
Kamal had lifted the Oman Open last month and took a leap of seven spots in the latest senior men's rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to grab the 31st position.
India's top paddler was beaten by Tang Peng of Hong Kong at the Singapore Open.
Top Indian Achanta Sharath Kamal received a mauling from Dimitrij Ovtcharov in a lopsided semi-final and the German then downed Korean Seo Hyun Deok to lift the men's singles title in the ITTF Indian Open Pro Tour Table Tennis tournament, which concluded on Sunday.
The ace Indian paddler is hoping to raise his game by turning out for the elite San Sebastian Club.
The defending champion beat Cai Xiao Li of Singapore in the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
He beat Xiao Li Cai of Singapore in the table tennis men's singles quarter-finals at the Commonwealth Games.
Both the Indian paddlers were outplayed in their pre-quarter-final matches at the Asian Games.
He beat Portugal's Tiago Apolonia at the Chile Open table tennis tournament.
Commonwealth and national champion Sharath Kamal turned in a smart display to defeat Boudjadja Mohamed in the first round of the men's singles table tennis competition.
'Paris 2024 was the first time that both the men's and women's team qualified for the team championships.' 'The women's team made it to the quarter-finals, just one short of the medal round, and the men's team also did well.' 'The mixed doubles is another event where India is doing very well.' 'So these three events are events where there is a possibility of us winning medals at the Olympics.'
India's Achanta Sharath Kamal came up with a splendid performance to shock top seed Li Ching of Hong Kong and win the Egypt Open Table Tennis Championships in Cairo on Sunday. The sixth seeded Indian Olympian won 11-5,11-6,14-16,12-10,11-9 to claim his second successive title in as many weeks, having won the US Open last Sunday, beating Keineth Thomas of Slovakia in Michigan.
Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal on Sunday closed in on his second successive international title when he defeated Jiang Tianyi of Hong Kong 4-1 to storm into final of the Egypt Open table tennis championships in Cairo.
Achantha Sharath Kamal surrendered 1-4 to Austria's Chen Weixing in the second round of the men's singles at the Beijing Olympics.
Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal is hoping for a good showing in the 19th Asian Table Tennis Championships that get underway in Lucknow on Monday to boost his ranking.
The fifth seeded Indian ace will take on top seed Gao Ning of Singapore.
India's top-ranked player beat Australia's William Henzel in a gruelling final at the Commonwealth Games.
Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal was among three Indians who qualified for the men's singles quarter-finals, even as the Indian women's challenge in the individual events ended in the Commonwealth Games Table Tennis competition on Monday. Besides Sharath, A Amalraj and Soumyadeep Roy also entered the last-eight stage.
Top seed Achanta Sharath Kamal laboured to the semi-finals of the men's singles in the NCC Indian Open ITTF Pro Tour tournament with a hard-earned win over Young Sik Jung of Korea in Delhi on Saturday. Sharath defeated Sik Jung 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10 in the quarter-finals at the Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi.
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