From lunching alongside tennis icon Roger Federer to taking a set off Chinese legend Ma Long, India’s flag-bearer for the Paris Olympics, Sharath Kamal on Wednesday recalled the most memorable moments from his five appearances at the Games so far.

The 42-year-old table tennis star helped the men’s team qualify for the first time in history and is believed to be set for his final appearance at the Games.

For someone who has a huge bank of memories from the Games having made his first appearance in 2004, Sharath recalled running into Federer at a dining hall at his debut Olympics.

“One day I was just out for lunch and as I was entering, there was another person with a tennis bag and hair let loose. I feel like I have seen him somewhere. I couldn’t
recognise who he was,” he said in a release from Ultimate Table Tennis.

“We pass each other — we actually cross paths — (and) he goes to give his bag at the baggage keeping area. I walk in, take my plate looking at what to eat and it suddenly strikes me. Man, it’s Roger Federer!”

Sharath said he was rather shy at the time but nonetheless searched for the Swiss ace, already a multiple grand slam winner by the Athens Games.

“He was sitting at one of the tables all by himself. I went as close as possible. I didn’t want to get in his place but still got close and I was eating (on the same table),” he
continued.

“Suddenly, a guy comes in with a reverse hat and shorts and they are clapping hands. I look at him and it’s Andy Roddick,” Sharath recalled.

With the Tokyo Olympics postponed by a year, Sharath recalled facing difficulties
in training and yet, he was able to make a dent in Long’s march to gold.

“Of the five times I played him, I have won just one set and that was in Tokyo. And I am very proud of what happened there, especially coming in after Covid,” he added.

“India had a very tough situation especially after the second wave. People in the rest of the world started their training long back and, mid-way during the lockdown in India, we were still confined to home workouts, I was playing on my terrace. It was very tough.

“I was training all the time in India with the limited resources we had. From that difficult mindset to getting to the Olympics and doing my best, I really feel I did well,” Sharath continued.

Even though he suffered a knee injury during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sharath fought hard to reach the second round. He defeated Spain’s Alfredo Carneros in the first and pushed his Austrian friend Chen Weixing to five sets in the next.

Also, in 2008, he was still in awe of international athletes and Sharath recalled observing basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his ‘Mamba’ mentality closely during the opening ceremony.

Sharath also looked back on his Athens 2004 meeting with double trap shooting silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore before the final.

“Probably, I disturbed him in his alone time, but he was sitting outside and relaxing. Coach Kamlesh Mehta said, ‘Come, let’s go and wish him’ and then we both went and he spoke very nicely, asked about my match etc,” Sharath said.

“He went on to win the medal and after he won the medal, it was so easy for me to go and look at the medal because I had already spoken to him the night before.”

PTI