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A winner in the making

How does it feel to be a National champion again? Ask Sharath Kamal

CAREER ON THE UPSWING Sharath Kamal

Srinivasa Rao and Muralidhara Rao, the coaches who moulded paddler Sharath Kamal, are hoping to see their ward one day on the victory stand at the Olympics with the whole nation cheering.

But the cynics think otherwise. And they have a seemingly logical reason, too. To beat the Chinese and the Europeans would require something extra. Agreed the task could be mammoth. But only a defeatist would ponder over it.

The two-time National champion certainly belongs to the category of sportsmen who believe everything is possible for those who are determined. The gold medal in the Commonwealth Championship in 2004 boosted Sharath's confidence and belief in himself. He has made the best use of the opportunities that have come his way. His career has taken an upward curve since then.

Superb performance

The icing on the cake was the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last year where with an astonishing performance Sharath went on to bag the singles gold.

Then, he reached the semifinals of the Brazil Open. His stature further grew when he broke into the top 100 in the world this month, the only Indian in the bracket.

In the light of these achievements on the International scene, his regaining the National table tennis championship title at Ajmer (he last won it in 2003) came as no surprise.

But what did come as a complete surprise was the way Sharath played throughout the championship. He even suffered a shock loss to Zubin Kumar (Rajasthan) in the team semifinals. His concentration ebbed and as a result, his strokes failed to have the required impact. Even in the individual event, Sharath's performance was not up to his standard. He managed to beat Ranbir Das in seven games in the semifinals before pulling off a victory over Subhajit Saha in the final. Never one to pass the buck, Sharath said "I did not give 100 per cent to the game due to lack of focus. I played a couple of games with intensity but later lost focus. Also I was a bit overconfident."

More confident

In hindsight, being defeated by Zubin, he says, has made him more confident.

"The failure made one thing clear to me that if Zubin can beat me I too can beat top-ranked players like the Chinese and the others." Sharath said he considers this National title more special.

The 24-year-old, an Assistant Manager with Indian Oil Corporation (Chennai), sees the forthcoming World championship at Zagreb from May 21 as a "hunting ground". When he says, "I set high goals and till I achieve them I am not satisfied. That keeps me motivated," you realise that here is a man who has all that it takes to scale great heights.

K. KEERTHIVASAN

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