‘I was excited to meet Roger Federer’

Abhinn Shyam Gupta shares his experience about the 2004 Athens Olympics

I was terribly excited at the prospect of representing my country at the Olympics. It was my childhood dream and after 3-4 years of performing consistently on the international circuit, I was able to realize this dream finally.

The Mauritius Open was my ultimate qualifying hurdle and I was ecstatic when I won it! Only the World’s top 32 players get the opportunity to play in the Olympics. Hence even participating in it was a big deal! Initially, I was in the reserves but later on I was selected in the main draw. The opening ceremony was definitely the highlight of my Olympic outing. To see thousands of athletes gather from around the world was a beautiful experience. It was there that I met Martina Navratilova. I remember clicking pictures with her. I remember meeting Roger Federer and getting clicked with him.

These are memories that’ll be with me forever! I have captured most of these moments in video!. The Indian contingent was a 75-member side. I used to hang out with Kamlesh Mehta, Sharath Kamal and all. There was great camaraderie amongst us. I lost a tough match to Park Tae-sang of Korea. He went on to win the silver.

Looking back, I think I gave it my best shot and I went down fighting. I lived my most fantastic dream and It was the highest honour in my career.

— As told to Malini Banerjee