Paddler Sharath Kamal Receives Khel Ratna At 40, Know About His Spectacular Sports Journey

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Paddler Sharath Kamal Receives Khel Ratna At 40, Know About His Spectacular Sports Journey

The table tennis player was the only athlete recommended for the country's highest sporting honour for his spectacular performance at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where he won four medals, three gold and one silver.

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India's table tennis superstar Sharath Kamal, at 40, received the prestigious Khel Ratna award on Saturday. Although the recognition came pretty late for Kamal, he said it was "better late than never" and would motivate him to give one last shot at Olympic glory.

For this year, he was the only athlete recommended for the country's highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, for his spectacular performance at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where he won four medals, three gold and one silver.

'Better Late Than Never'

Kamal told PTI, "Really proud moment. At this age getting this award, inspiring so many millions across different sports is really wonderful. It's come pretty late in my career but better late than never," reported NDTV.

This year, he was among 42 Khel Ratna aspirants, including hockey players Akashdeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Savita Punia and Vandana Katariya. The recognition was awarded to an unprecedented five athletes in 2020 and 11 last year.

Besides the Khel Ratna, the awards committee chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice AM Khanwilkar recommended 25 athletes for this year's Arjuna awards, including Commonwealth Games singles champion Lakshya Sen, world champion female boxer Nikhat Zareen among others.

Know About Sharath Kamal

Achanta Sharath Kamal, the Indian professional paddler, was born on July 12, 1982, and was introduced to the sport by his father at the very young age of four. Both his father and uncle were state-level players and nation-level coaches who taught the technicalities and groomed him for the game. He began his career at 16 and participated in state-level competitions, and has been in top form since his foray into the game, as per Wikipedia.

Kamal is the first Indian paddler ever to become ten times Senior National Champion, breaking the record of eight times National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. He has given some spectacular performances at Asian Games, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games and Olympics since 2006. Further, he was awarded Arjuna Award in 2004 and then India's fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Sri, in 2019.

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