"This will be my last Olympic games" - Indian paddler Sharath Kamal confirms that Paris 2024 will be his last Olympics appearance
After making four Olympic appearances in the past, Indian paddler Sharath Kamal is eyeing the Paris 2024 Olympics with both men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the quadrennial event.
Sharath confirmed that the upcoming Summer Games will be his last and he is not focusing on the LA 2028 Olympics. Furthermore, he emphasized that he would be looking at other aspects of the game for the betterment of the sport.
The 41-year-old, who was part of the Athens, Beijing, Rio, and Tokyo Olympics, stated that he would be hoping to end his Olympic journey with a podium finish after the team’s exceptional performances in the past two years.
“Until Tokyo, the three Olympics I played in Athens, Beijing, and Rio, I qualified for singles. This time we qualified for the team and that’s a big difference. The major difference will be this will be my last Olympic games as I am not looking for LA 2028,” Sharath told NNIS Sports.
“I will be slowing down my appearances with the national team on the international circuit. I will look into other aspects where I can support the sport. This being my last Olympic games, this will be my last chance to make the podium, giving it everything I've got,” he added.
“The positioning of Indian table tennis is very good” - Sharath Kamal
Additionally, Sharath spoke about the team’s approach to the upcoming mega event. He went on to add that the team’s qualification puts Indian table tennis in a good spot to eye for funds from top officials to improve the overall sport shortly.
“Qualification of the team puts us in a fantastic spot. The positioning of Indian table tennis is very good for any kind of funds to be raised by the federation or even to ask the central government of MYAS to help us increase the budget to improve,” he stated.
“Now that we've qualified for the Olympic games as a team, we can show that from hereon we have to look at getting that medal. The TTF will be able to position themselves in a good situation to help the game progress further from here,” he concluded.
Notably, the Indian team failed to make it to the Paris event through the World Table Tennis Team Championships held in Busan in February 2024 as they crashed out in the pre-quarter-finals. However, fortunately, their spot was finalized in the ranking window.