Sharath Kamal becomes India’s No. 1 ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

Achanta Sharath Kamal became India’s No. 1 ranked table tennis player after he defeated World No. 13 Darko Jorgic in the ongoing Singapore Smash. At the age of 41, the evergreen Sharath is aging like fine wine.

In the Round-of-32 match on Tuesday, March 12, the veteran beat his Slovenian opponent 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9). Despite losing the first game, Sharath did not lose his composure and made a comeback by defying the odds.

He stayed calm in the last three games and never allowed Jorgic to get a foothold back into the contest.

Subsequently, he booked a berth in the pre-quarters. It was also the first time that Sharath made his way through to the Round of 16 of the tournament.

Sharath, ranked No. 88 in the world, had to go through to the qualifiers to take part in the main draw. He defeated Andre Istrate after which he got the better of Japan’s Yuta Tanata. Thereafter, he beat Deni Kozul of Slovenia to cross the qualifying hurdle.

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Sharath Kamal looks for ‘right motivation’

Last year in an interview, Sharath said that he prefers setting small goals for himself to stay motivated.

“Since 2016, I have been able to break down my goals and targets for the next two years,” Sharath told Forbes India.

“When I am able to make things shorter, I can find the right motivation. If I had a goal four years from now, it would be too far for me to stay motivated,” he added.

After he failed to win a medal in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Sharath dropped 31 places in the rankings and fell out of the top 100.

Having won seven gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and two medals in the Asian Games, Kamal has his eyes on winning a medal in the Paris Olympics to be staged later this year.