What a champion! What a player! Achanta Sharath Kamal is an Indian professional table tennis player. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become ten times Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight times National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri
Even at the age of 40, Sharath Kamal continues going strong. The veteran paddler wrapped up his 2022 Commonwealth journey with four medals to his name, three of which were gold. What is mesmerising is that such a tally of medals puts Achanta ahead of several nations on the overall medals list at the Birmingham Games.
Achanta Sharath Kamal was nearly flawless in the entire Commonwealth Games campaign. The only time he fumbled was with his partner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the men’s doubles final. A defeat in the summit clash saw the Indian duo settle for a silver, otherwise, Achanta would’ve had 4 gold medals to his name from the Birmingham Games.
The Tamil Nadu born superstar paddler has a rich haul of four medals in the edition of the Games, having won the men’s team and mixed team gold and silver in the men’s doubles event Achanta’s four medals helped India secure a 4th place finish in the Birmingham Games with a total of 61 medals. In comparison, India had finished the 2018 Gold Coast Games with 66 medals to their name. But achieving 61 medals without shooting and archery is a big accomplishment in itself.
