Sharath wants to mentor like Dravid

Sunny Kaul

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 9

In the twilight of an illustrious career, Sharath Kamal, the poster boy of table tennis in India, is looking at a role similar to that of what batting great Rahul Dravid played in transforming the young cricketers of the country.

Sharath, who will probably be playing in his last Olympics at Tokyo later this year, sees Dravid as his “role model” and wants to “mentor” the young crop of Indian paddlers rather than walking the path of Pullela Gopichand, the star shuttler and India badminton coach who started an academy and took to coaching after his playing career.

“I am looking at mentoring,” Sharath said. “For me, more than Gopichand… OK of course… I cannot do what Gopi has done, that is way beyond my capacity or my character. Hats off to what Gopi has done… But the role model whom I can choose is Rahul Dravid. What Dravid has done with the NCA (National Cricket Academy) or what he has done with the juniors.”

“He (Dravid) has got them ready to play for India the moment they get a call. Washington Sundar, he went in there, he did his part. That is all because of what Dravid has put into place. He got them ready,” said the 38-year-old.

“Tomorrow you get a call, you are ready to go. You don’t need to go and figure out your situation. That is something that I can do, looking at a bigger picture. Of course, from there if I want to become or do what Gopi has done, you never know if I have the energy, if I have the resources and if I have the support to try and do that,” Sharath said.

Though the veteran paddler says he wants to give the next two years to himself, he believes one should know when to bid goodbye.

“This year and the next are important years in my career. This Olympics is the best chance I have at the dream that I have had since 2004, winning a medal for my country… 2004 was my first Olympics and 2021, after 17 years, I have the opportunity to probably make my dream come true.”

“I am really happy that I could continue for so long. Thank God that I have been able to hold on to my passion for such a long period of time. But then the coronavirus break has kind of extended my career… going into the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. After that, I have to look into what has to be done in the future… I would like to give back to the sport, if possible… Try to create a structure which will help produce more champions,” said the nine-time national champion.

The world No. 32 felt that senior players were not willing to concede their space and look at the aspect of grooming the young talent.

“I think senior players don’t want to leave their ground. Of course, they keep saying that if juniors don’t beat us it is not worth it for juniors to take us out. We can also contribute much more to juniors, to help them groom, to mentor them into becoming better than what I have been,” he said.

“As a player, I have shown them the direction. But again they need somebody behind them to tell them OK stay calm, there is a hurdle in front, don’t fall,” he said.

Sharath beats No. 16; Sathiyan, Manika lose

Doha: Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal stunned world No. 16 Patrick Franziska to progress to the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Star Contender series here today. Sharath Kamal, ranked 32, beat the German 12-10 3-11 11-7 7-11 11-9 in the second round match. However, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra bowed out of the tournament. While world No. 63 Batra lost 7-11 6-11 7-11 to Japan’s world No. 3 Mima Ito, Sathiyan was beaten by Japanese sensation and world No. 5 Tomokazu Harimoto 4-11 5-11 8-11. PTI