Dining with Federer to pep talk with Rathore, Sharath's 5 best Olympic moments

Achanta Sharath Kamal has been the face of Indian table tennis for over two decades now And the 42yearold will mark a record fifth Olympic appearance at the Paris Olympics 2024 He is also the male flagbearer for the Indian contingentThe multipletime Commonwealth Games gold medallist had played a pivotal role in helping India create history as the menrsquos team qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time in history And Sharath pointed out time and again that qualifying as a team could become the catalyst of growth for the sport in IndiaThe table tennis supremo who has also been the mainstay of Chennai Lions team in the Ultimate Table Tennis has been inspiring numerous young table tennis players pursuing a dream of playing for the countryDuring an interview with Ultimate Table Tennis Sharath who made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games spoke about his top five Olympic moments as he prepares to give his best shot at a medal at Paris Olympics 2024 Unexpected lunch alongside tennis legend Roger FedererGoing to the firstever Olympics is a special moment for any athlete It is about soaking in the atmosphere feeling the special vibe of the Games village and interacting with sportspersons from various disciplinesAnd understandably Sharathrsquos top of the chart Olympic moment is when he shared a table with Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer in the dining hall in 2004 And watching the camaraderie between him and USArsquos Andy Roddick was just the icing on the cakeldquoOne day I was just out for lunch and as I was entering from this side there was another person coming from the other side with a tennis bag and hair let loose I feel like I have seen him somewhere I couldnrsquot recognise who he was with his hair let loose We pass each other we actually cross paths He goes to give his bag at the baggage keeping area I walk in take my plate looking at what to eat and it suddenly strikes me Man itrsquos Roger FedererldquoI was very shy then So I took something to eat and searched for him He was sitting at one of the tables all by himself I went as close as possible I didnrsquot want to get in his place but still got close and I was eating on the same table And then suddenly a guy comes in with a reverse hat and shorts and they are clapping hands I look at him and itrsquos Andy Roddickrdquo Sharath recalled Taking a game against legendary Ma LongChinarsquos Ma Long is regarded as one of the greatest table tennis players of all time and was coming into the Tokyo Olympics as the defending champion The Tokyo Games had been postponed by a year due to the Covid pandemic and it had been a real struggle for Indian sportspersons to prepare well for the Games due to a long lockdown and the subsequent second waveSharath had gotten the better of Portugalrsquos Tiago Apolonia in the second round and was facing Ma Long in the third ldquoThe match against Ma Long was one of the best I have ever played in my career Out of the five times I have played with him I have won just one set against him and that was in Tokyo And I am very proud of what happened there especially coming in after CovidldquoIndia had a very tough situation especially after the second wave People in the rest of the world started their training back and midway in the lockdown in India we were still confined to home workouts I was playing on my terrace It was very tough I was training all the time in India with the limited resources we had From that difficult mindset to getting to the Olympics and doing my best I really feel I did wellrdquoSharath won the second game 118 but went down fighting 41 711 118 1113 411 411 in the match Later Ma Long went on to win the gold medalAlso ReadRats a sole worry for Olympic hosts ParisKnee injury couldnrsquot dampen Sharathrsquos spiritsSharath had qualified for his second successive Olympics and had worked hard to prepare himself for the 2008 Beijing Games by training in Europe with other top players But just before the start of the competition he slipped and fell during training and damaged his kneeHowever instead of getting disheartened by the injury Sharath decided to fight it out and reached the second round after beating Spaniard Alfredo Carneros In the second round he faced his good friend Chen Weixing of Austria and pushed his much higher ranked opponent to five setsExperiencing the lsquoMambarsquo mentalityAlthough he was making his second Olympic appearance in 2008 he was still in awe of the big international stars whom he could only see at the Olympics stage And in Beijing the special moment for him was to watch US basketball legend Kobe Bryant in person at the opening ceremony and witnessed the lsquoMambarsquo mentality from up close Pep talk with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore before he clinched historic silverIndia may be aiming to reach double figures on the medals chart at the Paris 2024 but in 2004 at Sharathrsquos first Olympic Games in Athens winning even one medal would have been considered a big deal 20 years agoHe was moving around the Games village in the evening with team coach and now Table Tennis Federation of India Secretary General Kamlesh Mehta when the latter asked him if he knew the person they were passing by Mehta then introduced Sharath to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who was considered to be Indiarsquos best medal prospect at Athens and was scheduled to compete in the Double Trap final the next dayAlso ReadAthletes enjoy first days at Olympic village ahead of GamesldquoProbably I disturbed him in his alone time but he was sitting outside and relaxing Coach Kamlesh Mehta said lsquoCome letrsquos go and wish himrsquo And then we both went and he spoke very nicely asked about my match etc He went on to win the medal and after he won the medal it was so easy for me to go and look at the medal because I had already spoken to him the night beforerdquoIndia will feature in the team as well as individual events of table tennis in Paris and Sharath in his fifth Olympics appearance will be aiming to win that elusive table tennis medal for the country After the Paris Olympics top table tennis stars from the world will engage in a highvoltage action in the IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis 2024 in Chennai from August 22 to September 7This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever