The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Sharath is Commonwealth champ

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

Sport

Sport - Table Tennis

Sharath is Commonwealth champ

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28 . A. Sharath Kamal filled India's cup of joy to the brim by winning the men's singles title with the champion-like finish in the Commonwealth table tennis championship in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

The National champion, who turns 22 on July 12, justified his seeding by overwhelming team-mate Soumyadeep Roy 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 in the final that lasted under half an hour.

Sharath, who has been in awesome form in the domestic season, became the first Indian to win title.

In the last edition in New Delhi in 2001, Chetan Baboor had come within a point of winning the title before falling to England's Mathew Syed.

Overall, India managed its best haul from the championship.

India won the men's team championship for the first time while the women finished fourth. Poulomi Ghatak and Mauma Das collected the doubles bronze after Sharath and Roy had made it an all-India affair in the men's final.

In the semifinals, Sharath defeated Singapore's Cai Xiao Li 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4 while SAF Games champion Roy produced a stunning comeback to outplay William Henzell 7-11, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-4, 11-4, 11-2, 11-4. However in the final, Roy could not contain an inspired Sharath.

"It's been great,'' was how Sharath exclaimed when contacted by The Hindu on Monday. "I've been dreaming of winning the singles title for the last six months. I am really pleased with the way I played,'' said Sharath who scored his fourth victory over Roy in six meetings this season.

Looking back, Sharath said he went through "a bad patch'' during the India's winning campaign in the team championship. "Soumyadeep and Subhajit Saha were the heroes whereas I was a zero,'' admitted the modest champion.

"In the team events, I lost my matches in the semifinal and the final in straight games and that was very discouraging. On top of it, I was the top seed in the singles and obviously under pressure. But I thought positively and took it point by point, match by match. It was here that the presence of the French coach Herbert Hustache made a huge difference. In the last six months that he has been with us, I can see that my number of unforced errors has come down a great deal. Some subtle technical corrections have improved my game considerably. I guess, his way of coaching suits my style of play,'' said Sharath.

On what got him going in the singles event, Sharath pointed to his victory over Alan Cooke in the pre-quarterfinals.

Sharath had lost 0-3 to Cooke in the men's team final and that obviously was weighing on his mind. "When I played him again, I was ahead in every set and helped my confidence. Once I beat him (11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4), my self-belief was back and played really well thereafter.''

Looking ahead to the Olympic Games, Sharath was realistic in his assessment. "Let's face it. There is a huge difference in the quality of field in the Commonwealth and the Olympic Games. Even if I can win a couple of matches, I'll be happy.''

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