Indian Table Tennis Thread ...

[Sandeep]

The guy Sharath Kamal seems to be a very good player! I saw him play in one of the tournaments at Chennai(I think 2001 nationals). He was good but never thought he would be India's No.1 player.

[jaydeep]

Yes Sandeep, Sharath improved lot from 2000 ... Now plays excellent mix and match attacking game.

Indian women missed golden opportunity to remain in world group ... After leading 2-0 against USA they lost next three matches to knocked out of from Championship division ..

India l US 2-3
Poulomi Ghatak bt Jun Gao 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9
Mouma Das bt Jasna Reed 11-6, 11-8, 11-7
Nandita Saha l Crystal Huang 3-11, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11
Mouma Das l Jun Gao 11-5, 4-11, 4-11, 4-11
Poulomi Ghatak l Jasna Reed 6-11, 4-11, 12-14

Jaydeep.

[jaydeep]

Indian men's team performed poorly ... Really disappointed performance from our team ... First they loose to young English side in pre-quarterfinals and squandered the chance to qualify for the Division I.

India l England 2-3
Soumyadeep Roy bt Paul Drinkhall 11-3 9-11 11-9 11-9
Sharath Kamal l Darius Knight 6-11 11-6 10-12 10-12
Shubhajit Saha l Andrew Baggely 11-7 7-11 8-11 12-14
Sharath Kamal bt Paul Drinkhall 8-11 8-11 11-7 11-9 11-4
Soumyadeep Roy l Darius Knight 6-11 11-7 4-11 11-13

After loosing match against England, our boys continued poor performance in play-offs ... They began disastrously against Argentina with Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha losing the first two matches against their Argentine opponents.

India l Argentina 2-3
Achanta Sharath Kamal l Liu Song 11-9 5-11 5-11 4-11
Subhajit Saha l Tabachnik Pablo 9-11 11-13 6-11
Pathik Mehta bt Alto Gaston Diego 13-11 11-3 11-6
Achanta Sharath Kamal bt Tabachnik Pablo 13-11 11-5 12-14 12-10
Subhajit Sahl a Liu Song bt 11-6 9-11 11-4 9-11 2-11

India will now play Slovenia for the 35th place.

Jaydeep.

[jaydeep]

India strugglred to beat Slovenia 3-2 and secured 35th position in team event ... But this win also managed to help India to stay in division two ... Achanta Sharath Kamal was the star of this win.

India bt Slovenia 3-2
Soumyadeep Roy l Lasan Sas 7-11 4-11 4-11
Sharath Kamal bt Roposa Bojan 11-7 11-5 11-6
Jitendra Kumar l Horvat Mitja 6-11 5-11 11-9 9-11
Sharath Kamal bt Lasan Sas 11-4 11-8 8-11 11-6
Soumyadeep Roy bt Roposa Bojan 8-11 11-5 11-5 11-9

China won the men's and women's world team table tennis championship beating South Korea and Hong Kong respectively.

Jaydeep.

[jaydeep]

Sharath Kamal will be playing for a club in Madrid for eight months from August after SAF games at Colombo.

"For me to go up the world rankings, it is important that I test my limits against a variety of opponents and work on certain specific areas of my play. It is almost certain that I'll be playing in Madrid for around eight months," said Sharath, currently ranked 130 in the world.

Sharath understands that he needs to work on his speed, physical fitness, defence and backhand while remaining delightfully aggressive.

"For me, my good physical condition adds to my mental strength. I need to take a step at a time and keep getting better," said Sharath, who feels very strongly that his best would come in the 2012 Olympics.

Sharath Kamal to play for Madrid club

Jaydeep.

[gbelday]

Thats a great move!! I wonder if anyone is sponsoring him. I think it would benefit him tremendously!!

[Varma]

I don't think anyone is sponsoring his plans, Gautam. After his recent success at Commonwealth games, TN state government and a few others have promised a lot of cash incentives. In one of the interviews he mentioned that the sum of all these amounts, (I hope he gets it in hand sooner than later and without having to run from pillar to post for the same), will get him going for at least the next 2 years. But I too hope that someone comes forward to sponsor him and let him keep all the hard earned and well desereved cash that he was promised.

- Varma

[gbelday]

I hope so too! I think he is doing the right thing though! It's the only way to get better!

[sameerph]

Achanta Sharat Kamal becomes first Indian to reach semi-finals of Pro Tour event but loses in the semi-finals :-

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2006/jun/26tt.htm

Things are looking up in Table Tennis.

[PKBasu]

Prior to 1975 (the year we hosted the World TT championship in Calcutta), India were among the top 10-14 Table tennis playing nations in the world. I remember it was a traumatic event for us to be demoted to the next tier of nations in 1977, and then we were demoted again a few years later IIRC. It is heartening to see Sharath Kamal leading a fightback for Indian TT.

[jaydeep]

Good news r coming from Junior front also.

Indian junior girls made to semis of ongoing the Asian junior table tennis championship in Kitakyushu, Japan ... They defeated 4th seed Chinese Taipei to secured their maiden entry into semis, but importantly with this win they also grabbed a spot for the World junior table tennis championships in Cairo.

[QF] India bt (4) Chinese Taipei  3-2

Neha Agarwal (IND) l Cheng I Cheng (TPE) 11-8 6-11 8-11 7-11
Shamini Kumaresan (IND) bt Yuszu Pei (TPE) 11-7 5-11 11-9 11-9
Ashlesha Bodas (IND) l Hsiung Mei (TPE) 7-11 16-14 7-11 5-11
Shamini Kumaresan (IND) bt Cheng I Cheng (TPE) 11-7 5-11 11-9 11-7
Neha Agarwal (IND) bt Yuszu Pei (TPE) 11-4 6-11 11-6 11-7

Jaydeep.

[jaydeep]

Sharath Kamal is playing for the super division Spanish club, San Sebastian Club, in Madrid for eight months from mid-September ... It would be great experiance and big stage for Sharath for his improvement ... Go Sharath.

Jaydeep.

[VReddy]

Sharat Kamal Interview

How was it playing against the world number 24 Zoran Primorac of Croatia in the Spanish League tie final in December 2006?

It was a great experience playing against Zoran Primorac. The Croatians were the favourites and we were not in a situation to win the match. Despite their loss they are still number one. Nevertheless, I had a really good win. In the first match, I defeated Guo Jinhao, and then in the second match I beat Primorac 3-1. Definitely, it was a great victory for me.

What are the forthcoming tournaments lined-up for you this year?

My season's first tournament kicks off in Spain in January. Then in February, I would be participating in the Indian Pro Tour in Delhi. In April, I will be participating in the World Championships in Croatia. For this tournament, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) would nominate five players to play in individual games. And the Commonwealth Championship in India is scheduled later. This will have both individual and team events.

That is a good win against the World Number #24 

[BSharma]

The $25,000 Indian Open Table Tennis Championship will be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. 
Indian Open Table Tennis Championship

[BSharma]

Check out the website of the Table Tennis Federation of India and click on the link for players.  The website not only gives information about their height, weight, date of birth, type of racket used, etc, but also their blood group, mobile phone number, home address, passport number and date of issue and expiry of passport.

TT Federation of India