Two of A Sharath Kamal\u2019s three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games were won in Australia and it is this little statistic which is driving India\u2019s finest table<\/p>\n
tennis player to go for another double in the Gold Coast edition next month.<\/p>\n
In all probability, the upcoming mega-event from April 4 to 15 will be the last CWG appearance for the 35-year-old, who has been leading India\u2019s mantle in the<\/p>\n
racket sport since 2006 Melbourne Games, where he exceeded expectations by winning the team as well as the singles gold.<\/p>\n
Sharath has his name on all the three gold medals India has won at the quadrennial competition and factoring in his recent form, he thinks he can add at least<\/p>\n
another two yellow metal to his overall kitty.<\/p>\n
(Read | Seema Punia\u2019s absence has officials in a tizzy ahead of 2018 Commonwealth Games)<\/p>\n
The Indian stunned world number 7 Koki Niwa at the Qatar Open earlier this month for \u201cthe biggest win of his career\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel we have a good chance in all four categories (singles, team, doubles and mixed doubles). It is easily the strongest men\u2019s squad we have fielded at the<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Games,\u201d Sharath told PTI, referring to the fact that India has as many as six players in the top-100 of ITTF men\u2019s rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ranking system has changed completely and the more you play, the better it is. That is one of the reasons why six of us are in the top-100. Having said that,<\/p>\n
the boys are doing really well and we really have a strong squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Read | Usain Bolt to attend 2018 Commonwealth Games – as a spectator)<\/p>\n
Sharath has managed to maintain a top-100 spot in the last decade but he was way outside the bracket in the Melbourne edition 12 years ago with India number<\/p>\n
two Soumyadeep Roy being outside top-200.<\/p>\n
The Chennai-based paddler says India has indeed come a long way since Melbourne but rival countries like England and Nigeria have improved drastically too.<\/p>\n
Teams from both nations got the better of India in Glasgow four years ago, when the country ended with just one silver, its worst show at the Games in terms of<\/p>\n
medal count.<\/p>\n
\u201cCWG is the only major multi-sporting event where we are expected to win medals. So considering that, the Glasgow performance was a huge disappointment.<\/p>\n
Because of that there is going to be extra pressure in Gold Coast but we are ready,\u201d world number 71 Sharath said.<\/p>\n
Singapore is another rival but barring 33rd-ranked Gao Ning, there is no other player who poses a threat to India. The Massimo Costantini-coached Indian squad<\/p>\n
is preparing in Europe at the moment and will be back home on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe preparations have been good since September. I was happy to win the nationals (a record 8th trophy), it gave me the momentum I needed. Things I have<\/p>\n
been working on, both physically and mentally, have come along finally.\u201d<\/p>\n
His forehand has always been his biggest asset but now a consistent backhand has boosted his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the main reason I was able to beat Koki Niwa. He did not see it coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the singles this time, he will also get stiff competition from his teammates Soumyajit Ghosh (rank 58th) and G Sathiyan, who is now the highest-ranked Indian<\/p>\n
at 49.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying against your countryman is most difficult. You always want to beat the players from other countries but it is mentally much tougher when you are against<\/p>\n
a fellow Indian, with whom you train and spend a lot of time. Let\u2019s see how it goes in Gold Coast,\u201d added the soft-spoken Sharath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two of A Sharath Kamal\u2019s three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games were won in Australia and it is this little statistic which is driving India\u2019s finest table tennis player to go for another double in the Gold Coast edition next month. In all probability, the upcoming mega-event from April 4 to 15 will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25403,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25401\/revisions\/25403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}