Achanta Sharath Kamal is a noted Indian table tennis player. He is considered to be the first Indian table tennis player who won the Senior National Champion title for nine consecutive years. Upon this, he broke the record of the eight times National Champion Indian table Tennis player Kamlesh Mehta.
Wiki/Biography
Achanta Sharath Kamal was born on Monday, 12 July 1982 (age 40 years; as of 2022) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His zodiac sign is Cancer. Soon after completing his school education, he began pursuing a B.Com. degree at Loyola College, Chennai. He belongs to a family of renowned Indian Table Tennis players. His father, Srinivasa Rao, and his uncle, Muralidhar Rao, are notable table tennis players, who are working as coaches to the budding Table Tennis players in India. Sharath Kamal was four years old when he was introduced to Table Tennis by his father and uncle. His initial training and practising began under the guidance of his father and uncle.
Sharath Kamal with his father (right) and his uncle, Muralidhar Rao (left)
When he was fifteen years old, his father gave him the option to continue his studies and become an engineer or practice Table Tennis professionally so that he could pursue Table Tennis as a career. Sharath chose Table Tennis and began practising the game under his father. However, Sharath took a lot of time to leave a good impression on the national-level TT selectors. His aggressive playing style included a lot of risks that used to affect his consistency while playing the game.
A childhood picture of Sharath Kamal with his mother and brother
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 6′ 2″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father’s name is Srinivasa Rao, and he was a former table tennis player and coach.
Sharath Kamal with his father, Srinivasa Rao
His mother’s name is Annapurna, and she is a homemaker.
Sharath Kamal’s mother and daughter
He has a younger brother named Rajath Kamal.
Wife & Children
On 27 July 2009, Sharath Kamal got married to Sripoorni SK. She is a homemaker.
Sharath Kumar with his wife, Sripoorni SK
The couple has a son and a daughter.
Sharath Kamal with his wife, Sripoorni and his children
Career
Sharath Kamal was selected for a 16-member training camp during the 2002 Commonwealth Games. This training helped him to understand the game so that he could improve his performance. Consequently, in 2002, he got qualified for the finals of the national championship, and he became a part of the Indian national team. In 2003, he participated in the national championships and won his first title. In 2004, he competed in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships and clinched his first international medal. Consequently, he got qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He then participated in consecutive five national competitions and clinched a title in each. In 2006, he competed in the Commonwealth Games, which were organised in Melbourne and won a gold medal in the singles TT match. During the same championships, he clinched another gold medal in the men’s team match.
Sharath Kamal (middle) after winning a gold medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games
In 2007, Sharath Kamal competed in the Pyongyang Invitational Tournament, which was held in Pyongyang, North Korea and became the first Table tennis player to participate in the same. In the same year, he participated in the Japan Pro Tour and defeated his opponent Lee Jung-woo of South Korea. Lee Jung-woo was holding the 19 world ranking when he was defeated by Sharath. In 2008, he participated in the Beijing Olympics and became the only Indian Men’s Table Tennis player to compete in these Olympics. In 2010, Sharath Kamal won the US Open Table Tennis Men’s Championships organised in Grand Rapids, Michigan after defeating his opponent, Thomas Keinath of Slovakia, in a match that consisted of seven games. In the same year, he participated in the Egypt Open and won the championships after defeating his opponent Li Ching of Hong Kong. Upon winning this championship, he became the first Indian to win a singles title on the ITTF Pro Tour. During ITTF Pro Tour, as a captain of the team, he helped his team to win the championship by defeating England, who were the tour favourites and nine-time champions.
Sharath Kamal at the ITTF Pro Tour in Oman
In 2010, he competed in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and won a gold medal in Men’s Doubles along with his teammate, Subhajit Saha.
Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha after winning the gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games
In the following year, he played for the team TSV Grafelfing during the table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) tournaments. In the same tournaments, he teamed up with the SV Werder Bremen team in 2012. In 2013, he joined Borussia Düsseldorf in Germany, one of the best clubs for table tennis in Europe. In 2016, during the Asian Olympics, he defeated Iran’s player Noshad Alamian in the qualifier round and got qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, in Rio Olympics, he was defeated in the first match. In 2018, he participated in the Commonwealth Games, which were organised in Gold Coast and clinched a gold medal in the men’s team event along with his teammates Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Sanil Shetty. During the same championships, he clinched a silver medal in men’s doubles along with his teammate Sathiyan and bagged a bronze medal in a men’s single event.
Sharath Kamal and his teammates with the gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast
In 2020, he defeated his opponent Marcos Freitas of Portugal and won the ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open. Upon this win, he won a title at the ITTF event after a long wait of a decade. On 27 July 2021, Sharath Kamal was defeated by Ma Long of China in the third round of the men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics.
🎥: These Sharath Kamal winners against Ma Long will surely blow your mind 🤯🔥 #IND
He went down fighting, as #TeamIndia‘s #Tokyo2020 #TableTennis campaign comes to an end. #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion @sharathkamal1 pic.twitter.com/kBvyaAoCTM
— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) July 27, 2021
In 2021, he won a gold medal at the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis championships in India.
Sharath Kamal after winning gold at the 83rd National Senior championships in 2021
On 2 August 2022, Sharath Kamal and his Indian men’s table tennis team clinched a gold medal after they defeated Singapore by 3-1 in the final at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.
Sharath Kamal after winning a gold medal in mixed doubles events in CWG 2022
Medals
Commonwealth Games
2006
- Gold medal in TT Men’s Singles in Melbourne
- Gold medal in TT Men’s Team in Melbourne
2010
- Gold medal in TT Men’s Doubles in Delhi
- Bronze medal in TT Men’s Team in Delhi
2018
- Gold medal in TT Men’s Team in Gold Coast
- Silver medal in TT Men’s Doubles in Gold Coast
- Bronze medal in TT Men’s Singles in Gold Coast
- Bronze medal in TT Mixed doubles in Gold Coast
2022
- Gold medal in TT Men’s Team in Birmingham
Asian Games
- Two bronze medals at the 2018 Asian Games
Awards, Honours, Achievements
In 2004, he was honoured with the Arjuna award.
Sharath Kamal’s mother while receiving the Arjuna award from Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
In 2019, he was felicitated with the Padma Shri award.
Sharath Kamal receiving Padma Shri award from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind
Bike Collection
Sharath Kamal owns a Customized Royal Enfield bullet.
Sharath Kamal with his customized Royal Enfield bike
Facts/Trivia
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- Apart from being a prominent Table Tennis player, Sharath Kamal is a fluent motivational speaker. He is often invited by several well-known public speaking platforms to deliver motivational speeches.
Sharath Kamal while delivering a motivational speech
- Sharath Kamal likes spending his leisure time with his family members when he is not competing in events and practising Table Tennis. Travelling to distant locations is his favourite recreational activity.
- Achanta Sharath Kamal attended the wedding reception of Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta in March 2019.
A picture of the wedding card posted by Sharath Kamal on social media
- According to Achanta Sharath Kamal, he is inspired by the former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and his playing style. He often met Sachin on various occasions and events.
Sharath Kamal and Sachin Tendulkar
- He remains very active on various social media platforms. He is followed by over 29k people on Instagram. On Facebook, he has more than 15k followers. He frequently posts pictures and videos on social media.
