Sharath Kamal: "I will cherish this moment as I did with my first title" - on winning a record 10th Senior National table tennis title

Achanta Sharath Kamal became the first ever Indian table tennis player to win 10 national titles. He won his tenth in style at the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Shillong.

Sharath Kamal beat Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 4-3 (7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6) in the final on Monday, April 25.

The gentle giant, who surpassed Kamalesh Mehta's record of eight titles two years ago, said the 10th title will be as close to his heart as his first.

After completing the feat, he said:

“Tenth is always special, and I will cherish this moment as I did with my first title.”

Read: Table Tennis Senior National Championship: PSPB wins men's and women's team titles

When asked if his record of 10 national titles could be broken at any time, the Indian table tennis proclaimed that nothing was impossible.

Sharath added:

“Records are meant to be broken but might take some time as it happened to me when I surpassed Kamlesh Mehta’s eight-time national record.”

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Sharath Kamal's game plan - 'Keep it simple'

As for the game plan, Sharath Kamal kept it simple.

Despite conceding a 3-1 lead to Sathiyan, Sharath had the tenacity and the calmness to overcome Sathiyan, point by point.

Once he restored parity at 3-3, he surged to a 4-0 lead in the decider and then the match went only one way.

With the crowd fully behind him, Sharath Kamal didn’t get unduly hassled even after Sathiyan restored parity at 4-4 and five-all.

He later allowed just one point to his rival. He went from strength to strength to wrap up the match in style and win his 10th national title.

After winning, the celebration said it all. Sharath Kamal dropped his racquet, jumped over the surrounds and ran around the arena in elation. The din raised by the crowd’s clapping and whistling took quite a while to die down.

Sreeja Akula wins women's title

In the women’s singles final, Sreeja Akula beat veteran Mouma Das 4-1 (11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6) to win her maiden national crown.

Sreeja Akula became the first woman from Telangana to become the national champion.

Sreeja was on the money from the word go and opened with a distinct advantage. Mouma came back strong and leveled the score. The Telangana paddler did well to slow down the game and surged ahead, game by game.

At 6-9 in the fifth, Mouma and Sreeja indulged in a fantastic rally, the latter winning it to bring up match point at 10-6.

It was all over for Mouma when she pushed the ball out and Sreeja threw her arms up in a muted celebration.

Speaking after the match, Sreeja was elated about winning her first national crown. She said:

“A dream come true occasion for me, and the week-long camp in Chennai (with Sharath, Manav Thakkar and others) has yielded the desired results."