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Five-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sharath Kamal has announced his retirement from professional table tennis. The 42-year-old table tennis icon declared on Wednesday (March 5) that the WTT Star Contender event in Chennai later this month will be his last tournament.
Sharath Kamal, who broke Kamlesh Mehta's record to become the first player to win the Senior Nationals 10 times, was also the first Indian to win an ITTF Pro Tour title, a feat which he achieved in 2010.
The star paddler from Chennai was chosen to be the joint flagbearer of the Indian contingent at the 2024 Paris Games alongside PV Sindhu.
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Sharath, who first won the Nationals in 2003, went on to bag the title a whopping 10 times. It was in 2003 that Sharath made his World Championships debut before clinching a gold medal in the 2004 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
He qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics before going on to clinch gold medals in the men's singles and the men's team event in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Success at Melbourne in 2006 was just the beginning of a fabulous run for Sharath at the CWG. The champion paddler also bagged gold medals in Delhi 2010, Gold Coast 2018, and at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Sharath won 13 medals in the Commonwealth Games, including seven gold medals, having been part of five editions of the quadrennial competition.
At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Sharath won bronze medals for India in mixed doubles and the team event.
He is the recipient of several awards including the Arjuna Award in 2004, the Padma Shri in 2019 and the Khel Ratna award in 2022.
Sharath Kamal stressed that since he began his international career in Chennai, it was only apt that he played his last international in the city of his birth.
"I played my first international tournament in Chennai, I will be playing my last international also in Chennai. This will be my last tournament as a professional athlete," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Sharath Kamal highest-ranked Indian in World Table Tennis rankings ahead of retirement
Ahead of retirement, Sharath Kamal is the highest-ranked Indian player in the World Table Tennis ranking ladder. Sharath is currently ranked World No. 42 while Manav Thakkar is 60th on the ranking list.
Sharath achieved his highest-ever career ranking back in 2019 when he rose to the 30th place on the WTT rankings.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai are going toe-to-toe in the 70th and 71st positions, respectively. Manush Shah is ranked 78th, as per the WTT.
The Chennai WTT event will be played from March 25 to 30.
