Sharath Kamal’s longevity as a table tennis player is amazing.

In 2006 Doha Asian Games, Soumyadeep Roy was his teammate and now Roy is one of the coaches of the Indian squad, which earned five Olympic berths from the Asian qualification tournament held in the Qatar capital.

And when Sharath played his first Olympics in Athens, current teammate Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was not even in his teens.

“Oh, when I started S. Raman, Chetan Baboor, Arup Basak and Arjun Dutta were dominating the scene. Now Arup and Soumyadeep are two of the coaches in the present squad,” the 38-year-old world No. 32 told The Telegraph from Doha on Sunday evening.

“When I played in Athens, Sathiyan was just 11,” the amiable paddler added, laughing.

The Tokyo Games will be Sharath’s fourth Olympics — he missed the 2012 London Games — and he attributes it to hard work, discipline and insatiable hunger for success. “I always have the hunger to succeed. I keep on trying. When I won three medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, I could have stopped. But I wanted a medal in the Asian Games.

“So I continued to play and won a bronze in the mixed doubles event with Manika Batra. Then I told myself, ‘let’s go for Tokyo’… And here I am. You know, in 2006, my mother wanted to get me married. I told her to wait for six more years and promised her I would slow down. I got married in 2009, but it’s 2021 and I am still playing,” he said.

But “playing” is an understatement for Sharath, he is rocking. On Saturday, Sharath and Manika — both had already qualified for Tokyo in their respective singles events — stunned the World No. 5 South Korean pair of Sang-Su Lee and Jihee Jeon 4-2 to book their Tokyo ticket in the mixed doubles.

“We have a very good chance to realise our dream of winning an Olympic medal. Our focus now will be on that. Unlike tennis or badminton, where you have specialised doubles players, in table tennis, singles players feature in doubles and mixed doubles.

“But when I tell you that our focus will be on mixed doubles, that does not mean singles preparations will take a backseat. Because if your singles form dips, that will affect your doubles game too. After gruelling singles sessions, maybe 30-40 minutes of mixed doubles sparring. That’s the best way to go about it.”

Sharath returns to Chennai on Monday and will take “some days off” to quarantine himself. “This six weeks of action has drained me completely. I need to rest to recharge my batteries. After that, preparation will start in full swing. I have to find out about Manika’s plans too… How she is thinking of preparing. It’s teamwork.”

At this point in time, the multiple-time national champion doesn’t know if the squad would travel abroad for training. “I am not sure. WTT China hub could be an option as travelling to Europe is not possible due to the Covid-19 situation. We can also bring foreign players here to practice. We have to wait and see how things unfold.”

Last year this time, Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed by a year due to the raging pandemic. Sharath at that time was at his peak having won the Oman Open. “I was really apprehensive about qualifying for Tokyo.

“While we were stuck at home, the European and Asian players were preparing well with their sparring partners. A super camp at Sonepat in October put things back on track for us. And then to continue with the good work, I had asked some of the campers to travel to Chennai for one more camp. That also helped us in regaining ground,” he says.

Sharath is now being compared with tennis icon Leander Paes, who has played in seven Games. “He is a legend. After he won the bronze at the Atlanta Games, I had his photo pasted on the wall of my room. I was 13 then. If people are comparing me with Leander, it’s an honour.”

After every tournament, Sharath jots down notes about his performance. “I do it the day the tournament ends because your memory stays fresh. I did it yesterday also. I need to improve my defence. My rivals know my defence is not as strong as my attack, so sometimes I fall flat. I really need to improve on that front. I am confident once my defence gets more compact, I will be a different proposition.”