Sharath Kamal keen on another masterstroke

Australia has a special place in Achanta Sharath Kamal’s heart. More than a decade ago, Indian table tennis’ poster boy won two gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games in what was still early days in his career. The event returns Down Under in Gold Coast, and Kamal would be expected to inspire his younger teammates — especially in the wake of Soumyajit Ghosh’s exclusion from the squad over an alleged rape accusation.

World No 71 Kamal will have by his side world No 49 Sathiyan Gnansekaran, Harmeet Desai and Anthony Amalraj. World No 58 Soumyajit was also an experienced hand but his exclusion means that Sanil Shetty may get a chance to represent India in the men’s section.

In the women’s section, world No 66 Manika Batra, Mouma Das , Madhurika Patkar, Pooja Sahasrabudhe) and Sutirtha Mukherjee will be India’s contenders. The 10-member squad is being coached by Italian Massimo Constantini and they have been training in Germany of late.

Indian players have been seeded second behind England in the team event and it speaks volume about the country’s prospects. The absence of powerhouses like China has meant that India almost always put up a good show. However, that was not the case in the 2014 Glasgow edition where India won only one medal — silver in men’s doubles (Kamal and Amalraj). It was a far cry from the three medals (2 gold, 1 bronze) in the 2006 edition and the five medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) in the 2010 edition.

But, this time around the table tennis team is expecting three to four medals. In men’s singles, Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal will be the two players to watch out for. While Sharath Kamal has massive experience on his side, Sathiyan’s recent form has been impressive.