With Singapore Smash run, Sharath Kamal remains gold standard of Indian table tennis at 41
When the qualifying round of the Singapore Smash began last week, Sharath Kamal had told his family that he would be home on Sunday; three days later. But Sharath was hitting the ball so well that he ended up staying back for an extra week as he ran through better-ranked opponents all the way to the quarterfinals - a first in Indian table tennis history.
Why is Sharath's run such a big deal? It's because the Singapore Smash is part of the WTT Grand Smash series, which is the pinnacle of global table tennis. It is the highest level of competition on the WTT Tour and attracts the world's best players. For comparison, it's like a Grand Slam in tennis or an equivalent to badminton's All England Open.
At 41, or "Level 41" as Rohan Bopanna says, Sharath will once again become the #1 ranked Indian, break into the top 40 of the world rankings and boost his chances of making the cut for the singles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A fifth appearance at the Olympics - a feat achieved by no Indian table tennis player.
That last line is used very loosely when it comes to Sharath, who has been the flagbearer of Indian table tennis over the last 20 years. The stats do all the talking -
Seven gold medals at the Commonwealth Games
Two-time Asian Games bronze medallist
A 10-time national champion
A four-time Olympian
Recipient of the Khel Ratna Award
His latest performance served to underline this again. Sharath played some of his career's finest table tennis in Singapore Sports Hub over the last week. He did not drop a single game in three matches to get past the qualifiers [the three other Indian men did not progress] and into the main draw. That pretty much meant he had to break his promise of returning home on Sunday.
In 28 minutes, he was done with World #31 Nicolas Burgos and was slated to take on World #13 Darko Jorgic. This was always going to be a tough one, especially when he lost the first game. The first time he was trailing in four matches.
"I've played him twice before this, and I lost both times. I went into the match thinking that at least let me start with one set, because last time I lost 0-3," Sharath had told World Table Tennis after his win, playing the underdog card.
With nothing to lose, he went for his shots in the subsequent games and it paid off. What followed was the upset of the tournament - the world #88 had just stunned the world #13. Up next was yet another stiff challenge, this time in the form of Egypt's Omar Assar in the round of 16.
You would imagine that the world #22 would have put up a fight, but Sharath was operating on a whole different level. He needed 24 minutes to mark his quickest win in the main draw and move into the quarterfinals - uncharted territory for Indian table tennis. "I didn't expect a 3-0 win, thought it would be much closer," Sharath would say after the match, once again modestly brushing away just how good he was on the table.
His riveting run ended on Friday as he was undone by World #6 Felix Lebrun. Sharath, though, left the Singapore Sports Hub with his head held high: this was his best showing at a WTT tournament in a while and it was also the first time he got past the first round in three appearances at the tournament.
This was the same Sharath, unsure of making a deep run at the tournament, who told his family he would be home in four days. The same Sharath who had told his family nearly a decade ago that he would hang up his boots. The same Sharath, who at 38, wondered if his body would hold up for another year when the Tokyo Olympics were postponed.
That same Sharath is now four months away from potentially competing in the men's team and singles event at the Paris Olympics. That same Sharath is now back to being India's #1. That same Sharath continues to be the gold standard of Indian table tennis.
