Chennai, Mar 5: Five-time Olympian and India’s most celebrated paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal has announced his retirement from table tennis, with the upcoming WTT Star Contender in Chennai set to be his last outing in India colours.

At 42 years old, Sharath, who is a record 10-time national champion, is currently India’s top-ranked men’s singles player, placed 42nd in the latest WTT ranking list.

"As I played my first international tournament in Chennai and I will be playing my last international match in Chennai. I have the Commonwealth Games medals, Asian games medals, but the Olympics medal is something I don't have in my cupboard. I hope I can live that dream through the young talents," Sharath said in a press conference in Chennai.

Sharath has won 13 Commonwealth Games medals (including seven gold) and two Asian Games bronze medals, five Olympic Games appearances and two ITTF Pro Tour titles under his two-decade-long career.

He won his first national title in 2003 and his maiden international medal at the 2004 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships. His career graph reached a new high when he qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In 2004, Sharath was conferred the Arjuna Award and won five national titles in a row. A historic singles gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and another gold in the men’s team event capped a successful year.

In 2010, he became the first Indian table tennis player to win an ITTF Pro Tour title, when he won the Egypt Open. Sharath went on to win two more Commonwealth Games gold medals in 2010 - in the men’s team and men’s doubles.

He endured a lean period for a couple of years, winning no titles or medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games or Asian Games, and was also unable to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

But he won medals in every event he competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (gold, silver and two bronze medals). He also went on to win two bronze medals at the 2018 Asian Games.

In 2019, the veteran rose to a career-best ranking of world No. 30 and in the same year, won a record ninth national title. The following year, at the age of 37, Sharath won his second international title at the Oman Open, a decade after his first.

At Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, it was his fourth Olympic appearance, but the Indian veteran, who got a bye in the first round, lost 4-1 to Chinese legend and eventual gold-medallist Ma Long in the round of 32.

Despite his age, Sharath has shown no signs of slowing down, as he won bronze in the men’s team and men’s doubles events at the 2021 Asian Table Tennis Championships.

In April 2022, he bagged his 10th national title with an impressive 4-3 win over Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the final. In the Commonwealth Games 2022, he bagged the gold medal in men’s singles.

He clinched the mixed-team gold medal at CWG 2022 with Sreeja Akula, a men’s doubles silver with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and the men’s team gold medal as well. Sharath was also awarded India’s highest sporting honour - Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in the same year.

The veteran was also part of the Indian table tennis squad for the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou and played an integral role in helping India obtain a team quota for Paris 2024, a first-ever for India at the Olympics.

Sharath was India's flag bearer for the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony alongside ace shuttler PV Sindhu, making him the first table tennis player of India to hold the honour. Unfortunately, his run in men's singles ended prematurely after an opening round loss.

(IANS)

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