Sharath Kamal
Widely considered to be one of India's greatest-ever table tennis players, Sharath Kamal, has won seven Commonwealth Games' gold medals, two Asian Games' medals, and has appeared in four Olympic Games. Honoured with both the Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awards, Kamal is a righthanded, shake-hand grip player known for his all-round game and extensive experience.
You are, no doubt, the most decorated Indian table tennis player in history. After 10 national titles, what keeps you going?
I think the goals that I have constantly keep evolving. I'm always pushing myself to achieve the next goal. Until 2016, I wanted to do well at the Olympic Games. And then, I didn't know what I would do; I thought that probably the Rio Olympics would be my last but then I could clearly see that I still had a lot of fuel left in the tank. I was able to push myself and so, I started aiming for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
During the latter, we won two bronze medals - the first time in 60 years of Asian Games' history. This, I think, changed not only the entire purpose of my life but also that of Indian table tennis; in that tournament, we won eight medals for the country. From there, the next goal was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Every one or two years, I keep pushing myself to define what I want to achieve for a particular timeframe. And that helps me have those short-term goals and at the same time, achieve what I had dreamt of. There's one medal that has evaded me throughout my entire career, and that's the Olympic medal. I hope Paris 2024 will be it.
You've managed to stay physically fit at the age of 41. Is there anything different about your workout routine?
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