Hyderabad: India's star Table Tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal won hearts back in the country on July 27 when he faced the mighty Ma Long of China -- a defending gold medallist, if not the match.
Sharath dubbed his match against Long as "the best match" he has ever been part of but rues the lost chance he had in the third set.
The veteran, who has donned Indian jersey for over a decade now, reveals the mixed doubles team along with Manika Batra was hopeful of a medal in the Olympics. But the 39-year-old Table Tennis player did realise he had a tough draw to face before heading to Tokyo.
Sharath opens up in an exclusive interview with Etv Bharat.
Excerpts:
Q. You were able to rattle Long. What was your mindset going into the match because a win clearly seemed to be on cards.
A. Even before the tournament had started, I knew I had a difficult draw. Apolonia in Round 2, whom I had not beaten in the last 15 years and then Ma Long -- the defending champion. I felt like, ok, I will go into the match and it's going to be 50/50. It doesn't matter who the player is. I need to be there and show that to the opponent that I am here to win this match. If you have to take the match away from me, you need to be better than me and that's exactly what I showed there. That's the intent I went with and that's exactly what everybody is talking about. Of course, if I had won the third set, I might have won the match later on or it would have been a different match. Unfortunately, I couldn't. I put the pressure on him. I got him in that space where I wanted him to be -- completely cornered. But I actually let him slip away from there. Although, I am really happy that I got an opportunity to do that.
Q. Take us through the last two sets. The scoreline of the last two sets doesn't really justify the match.
A. Yes, the last two games doesn't justify the entire match. Anybody may think of it as an average match where Ma Long just ran past me if you look at the scoreline. It's only when you see the match, you realise the intensity of the first three games. In the fourth and fifth round, he really raised the bar and when the pressure was off him, he played some really good shots. Even the four points that I made, I had to work hard for it. The level of the match was one of the best I ever played.
Q. What about mixed doubles?
A. In mixed doubles, we were looking forward to a medal. We were at least eyeing quarterfinals, if not the medal. I would say we were quite unlucky with the draw in mixed doubles and for myself in singles. Had it been any other pair, we probably had a chance to at least play our games. We just got thrashed in the first round because Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-ju was completely all over us. He was just too good.
Q. Have you made any decision with regards to your participation in the next Olympics?
A. I have kept this option open. I haven't decided on it completely at this point of time. I am looking for Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, which is a year away from now. I will take it on from there.
--Ayushmaan Pandey
