Making the Olympic quarterfinals is my current personal goal : Sharath Kamal

Ranked 69 in the world, Sharath is far away from an Olympic medal unless fate conspires to give him a shot at glory. Keeping that in mind, Sharath has set his sights lower to begin with. "Making the Olympic quarterfinals is my current personal goal. I don't want to talk big about winning a medal and then blame it on the weather or the table if I lose early. Once in the quarterfinals, a medal is just a step away," he told ESPN in an exclusive.

Talking about his playing style and streak of injuries, the 33-year old said, "As a tall player, the tendency to move away from the table was always there. With height you ensure greater coverage of the table. It's hard for the ball to get past your racket."

"That's what happened to me. Back injuries are very common for tall players in this sport".

Sharath brought India multiple medals in the Commonwealth games with Gold in both the singles and team events in the 2006 Melbourne Games and a doubles Gold when the caravan came to India in 2010.

However, the injuries meant he had to change his playing style that left a huge gap in his game-play. Speaking about it, Sharath said, "I knew I could finish a ball but I couldn't move quick enough for it. I was getting disappointed and depressed playing that way. Now thankfully, I'm back to my natural game," reported ESPN.

Sharath, playing in his third and most likely last Olympics, also fondly recollected his maiden Olympics at Athens in 2004. "On the first day, this guy walked into the dining area. He looked familiar.

"I soon realised I was sharing the table with Roger Federer. A little while later Andy Roddick walked in wearing a torn denim shirt and a cap in reverse. I was like 'Oh boy, my Olympics is made!,” he said.

The face of Indian table tennis also talked about how he has managed sport and his personal life.

Sharath said, "I don't think I balanced my life well when I turned father. Also I wasn't able to adapt to the game well enough. While most of the others had become both flank players I was still trying to strike a balance between my forehand and backhand games,” reported ESPN.

In the twilight of his career, Sharath concluded with his wish saying, "I wanted to give table tennis in India an identity."