Sharath Kamal is leaving a large vacuum in the Indian table tennis ecosystem with his retirement.
The chants of ‘Sharath Kamal’, placards of his name, and his gentle giant figure on the podium will disappear. But the 13 times Commonwealth Games (CWG) medalist cannot be replaced by the youth, albeit they can achieve much more by taking inspiration from his storied career.
The ten-time national champion is now focused towards building Olympic medalists in the next decade at his proposed table tennis academy which is set to come up by July at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University in Melakottaiyur.
Olympic First caught up with the gentle giant to understand his way forward.
“I also don’t have many details. The government is planning. Hopefully, it will come up in two-three months’ time in Chennai,” he tells this website on a telephonic interview.
READ MORE: ‘Retiring’ Sharath Kamal To Focus On Administrative Duties
1. Tell us about your post-retirement plans?
“I’m looking at a high-performance centre (as his next goal) and working towards (India) getting an Olympic medal in the next 8-12 years”.
2. When a legend like you retires; someone should be keen to step into the boots. What do you think about India’s young paddlers?
“I think there are a lot of players. Manika (Batra) and Sreeja (Akula) are doing extremely well. And we do have a lot of young players who will go beyond what I have achieved. There is Ankur (Bhattacharjee), Manush (Shah). India has a depth of talent.”
“We just need to give players the right system and make sure that we’re able to run an athlete centric program”.
3. Now you might be able to eat more chocolates and give time to your kids.
“It is very much demanded by my family members. It’s almost a luxury to give to them. I will try and spend more time with my kids. Because in few years, they’ll have their own life.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll have a similar role. But I will try and help players win medals at the Olympics. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a position like that.”
4. Tamil Nadu is making physical education a priority in their academic curriculum. Do you think every state should adapt to the same?
“I don’t know if TN is doing it. However, the fact remains that kids should play sports. They might do it professionally, they might not become champions. The most important thing is sport has to be a way of life. As a country, we need to be talking about sporting nations. The mindset begins at home. That’s very important.”
5. On WTT’s, now dropped, mandatory rule on players to participate in all Grand Smashes which has been removed now.
“It was not fair on the organisation to force us to play a tournament.”
READ MORE: Sharath Kamal Achievements: Medal, Records And Honours