Indian veteran paddler Sharat Kamal has his plans post the 2024 Paris Olympics ready. While announcing to the media that the 2024 Olympics will be his swansong, the 41-year-old has been preparing for a role as an administrator or mentor.
Sharath has finalised a place at Tamil Nadu Physical and Education Sports University (TNPESU) in Melakottaiyur (Kancheepuram District) which, he believes, will in the long run, become a regional training centre or a national training centre.
“I am in close talks with Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and everything will be done by the time of Paris Olympics,” he informed.
The 10-time National TT singles champion explained in detail on how he wants the Centre to grow.
“We will have foreign and Indian coaches, sparring partners both Asian and Europeans. I am also looking at round-the-clock training camp. There will be senior, junior, sub-junior and cadet players training. Here, each player can learn from the other. It is like what we had at Young Men’s Indian Association (Sharath used to train when he was young) where we learnt from our seniors. That ecosystem is what we are missing now. We play as a team. As a team only India can come up,” he said.
Funding is an important part of an institution, and Sharath understands it better than anyone else. “I am looking at private funding which will be the main source. We are also looking at funding from SDAT for selected players and coaches. I also want to tie up with the International Table Tennis Federation, too. Across the globe, if there is a tournament in Bangkok and if any player from whichever country wants to train, I would like to host him or her. I want the centre to be around the clock,” he said.
Sharath said Italy’s Max Costantini, who was India’s foreign coach, is most likely to return to the Indian side for the third time as coach.
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