Sharath Kamal, for whom age is just a number

0 0 0 312 0

While table tennis has been battling a crisis this year, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra continued to score victories, both on and off the court. The 40-year-old, who proved his evergreen abilities with 3 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which included his first singles title in 16 years, has no plans of retiringbefore the Paris Olympics.

However, he has finally made a long-awaited foray into administration, after being elected as the vice-chair of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) athletes’ commission, as well as the joint chair of the players’ body in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The most impressive of his achievements this year, though, was the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, which is the nation’s most prestigious sport award.

This was awarded to him after he overcame numerous challenges to win a sensational three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, in the singles, team and mixed events.

MeanwhileManika Batra, who won 4 medals at the CWG in 2018, also overcame a disappointing show at the Birmingham Games to win bronze at the Asia Cup, and become the first Indian to win a medal at the tournament.

Overall, table tennis in the nation had to overcome several legal challenges in 2022 as the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) were suspended by the Delhi High Court, who appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA). The CoA also faced its own hurdles, as four players, Manush Shah, Swastika Ghosh, Archana Kamath and Diya Chitale questioned their exclusion from the CWG squad.