Tokyo Olympics 2020: Sharath Kamal organizes a 10-day preparatory camp for qualifiers

What's the story?

Indian table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal has organized a 10-day preparation camp in his home town of Chennai, Tamil Nadu to be ready for the World Team Qualification Event in the leadup to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The background

Sharath Kamal is one of the most successful Indian table tennis players, having won multiple medals for the nation in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. He is the first player to win the Indian Senior National Championship a record nine times, beating the previous record of eight titles held by Kamlesh Mehta.

Kamal first qualified for the Olympics back in 2004 when it was held in Athens, Greece and has been a constant feature in the top events worldwide since then.

The heart of the matter

Achanta Sharath Kamal has decided to organize a 10-day preparatory camp in Chennai to get the Indian paddlers ready for the World Team Qualification Event which will have Tokyo Olympics 2020 spots up for grabs.

The Indian table tennis team were in search of signing a foreign coach after the departure of Italian coach Massimo Costantini at the end of the 2018 Asian Games. Kamal was in discussions with the Table Tennis Federation of India about the signing of a coach but the hunt ended up fruitless.

Kamal decided to take charge and has planned for a training camp that will witness the members of Indian Men's table tennis team coming together to train. The camp will conclude on December 30, 2019, and will also see Manika Batra, Reeth Rishaya and other local Chennai players taking part.

What's next?

The World Team Qualification Event is set to be held in the town of Gondomar, Portugal during the period of 22 – 26 January 2020. The Indian team have been seeded fourth behind South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Sweden and can qualify for Tokyo Olympics with a quarterfinal finish.