Table tennis: Sharath ready to repeat his Melbourne Kamal

Every player has his nemesis, in the case of Indian table tennis hope Sharath Kamal, it’s Singapore’s Gao Ning.

World No.17 Ning has accounted for Sharath in the last two Commonwealth Championships. In 2007 Ning beat Sharath in the semifinal before going on to win the title. The 2009 edition saw Ning triumph in a close final to retain his crown.

But this time around Sharath, the defending men’s singles champion, is ready to stand up to his nemesis at next month’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

“I am very confident of retaining the singles title. I had started my mental preparation three years ago because to win such a big event you need to formulate a long-term strategy, things do not happen overnight,” Kamal, who is ranked 41 in the world, told DNA.

Sharath broke into top-50 for the first time in his career this season by winning the US Open and Egypt Open crowns, the latter making him the first Indian to win on the ITTF Pro Tour.

India’s foreign coach Massimo Constantini feels Sharath has in it him to go all the way. “He will be India’s main hope. He has the confidence that he can stand up to the best in the world. Home advantage will be crucial. He’ll be India’s best bet for a gold,” said the Italian, who is working with the Indian team since January 2009.

Sharath will also form a crucial part of the men’s team which had won gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games. Here too the challenge will come from the Singapore squad, which is filled with players of Chinese origin. Other members of the men’s team are A Amalraj, Subhajit Saha, Soumyadeep Roy and Sourav Chakraborty.

Compared to the men’s, the women’s contingent is not thinking big. And reason behind it is Singapore’s domination. They will come with four top-25 players in their ranks.