CHENNAI: The curtains came down on paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal's glorious career after his straight-games loss to Snehit Suravajjula in the Round of 16 at the WTT Star Contender, being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
Playing in front of about 500-odd spectators, Sharath went down 9-11, 8-11, 9-11 to wildcard and doubles partner Snehit in about 25 minutes.
''Everybody thought, everybody was expecting that (I will win), but I knew the fact that it's going to be very tough. Also, I played three matches yesterday (Friday), I'm not in the best shape physically. Everybody expects me to be the favourite against the Indian boys, but personally I would have loved to face a foreigner because I can then go all guns blazing," said Sharath after his loss.
"There is a lot happening mentally. I'm a little bit like a mentor for them (other Indian players). Apart from Snehit, I have been working with Manav (Thakkar), Manush (Shah), Harmeet (Desai) and G. Sathiyan. If you are playing against a foreigner, then you have your whole team and the crowd cheering for you. You also get pumped up but that's how the draw is and I am really happy for Snehit for the wonderful tournament he is having and I'm pretty sure he'll make it past the next round as well," added Sharath.
Sharath felt that he did the best he could and had no regrets.
"The way this tournament has ended for me, I could not have asked for anything more. I didn't expect much from the tournament but reaching the semifinals in men's doubles and last 16 in singles (was great). Of course, I would have loved to keep playing today, win and come back tomorrow because the fans were fantastic," he said.
"With Sathiyan and Harmeet as the seniors and then, you have Manav, Manush, Snehit, Payas (Jain) and Ankur (Bhattacharjee), it's good bench strength and I'm pretty sure I'm leaving Indian table tennis in safe hands," he added.
Sharath bagged a total of 15 medals across the Asian and Commonwealth Games but an Olympic medal remained elusive despite five appearances.
"Of course, I always wanted that Olympic medal. In reality, we are still pretty far from there. It's been a wonderful journey. Every time there's been some highs, there's been some lows. I enjoyed every part of it," said Sharath.
While his own career spanned over two decades, Sharath felt that very few players would be able to do the same given the demands of the sport today.