The Hindu : Sport : This is one of my easiest wins: Sharath Kamal

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This is one of my easiest wins: Sharath Kamal

Sports Reporter

Hopes to be within top 50 in the world by end of the year

Sharath created a record of sorts by winning four titles
Sharath is currently ranked 79 in the world

CHAMPION STUFF: Sharath Kamal, who created a record of sorts when he won all the four titles in the Siliguri Nationals, speaks to the media.

CHENNAI: Sharath Kamal’s third National table tennis singles title at Siliguri didn’t come as a surprise for those who keenly follow the sport. Former National champion G. Jagannath, a well-wisher, put things in perspective when he said: “In fact, it should have been his (Sharath’s) sixth title. For some strange reasons, he has not been able to motivate himself enough while playing in India.”

Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, Sharath talked about the significant improvements he has made in his game since he went to Spain to play league matches six months ago. “This has been one of my easiest wins in the Nationals. People asked me to pick the toughest match I played. I found it difficult to specify any match. In each match, I lost just one game.”

Intense training

The 25-year-old attributed it to the intense training he underwent while playing for his Spanish club — San Sebastian — and the tournaments he competed in Spain.

In the Siliguri nationals, Sharath created a record of sorts by winning four titles, which none in the recent past has achieved. “It is special to win four. I have always wanted to play all the four — the team event, men’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. But due to tight scheduling, I have not been able to.”

India has a couple of important assignments coming up — the World Cup in China from February 24 to March 2 and the Olympic qualifier in Hong Kong from March 6 to 11.

Sharath said India can finish much better than what it did last year in the Worlds. “We (the men) hope to finish somewhere between 24th and 28th,” he said.

Exudes confidence

Sharath exuded confidence while speaking about his chances of qualifying for the Olympics through the Asian quota where the top seven will make the grade.

Currently ranked 79 in the world, Sharath said the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has given a list of 10 international tournaments (Pro-Tours, invitation tournaments and others) for the players to choose. “We’ll have to select which one we want to play and inform TTFI,” said the Commonwealth Games champion.

Sharath said he hoped to be within the top 50 in the world by the end of the year. He left for Spain on Monday.

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