WTT Star Contender Chennai: Sharath Kamal says donning organiser’s hat has been a learning curve

It was only in March last year that Sharath Kamal played his farewell International match in the WTT Star Contender at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here. Since then, the former India No.1 paddler has donned several roles that have kept him actively involved in the sport. He was elected to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Athletes’ Commission. He also serves on the Indian Olympic Association’s Athletes’ Commission.

Now, he is busy overseeing preparations for the WTT Star Contender to be held at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (TNPESU) here from February 10. The venue for the event will be the SDAT-High Performance TT Centre situated inside the TNPESU campus.

As an advisory director of the High-Performance Centre, the 43-year-old is excited to showcase his academy to the public at large. “I miss the competition as a player. But as an organiser, it’s been a huge learning curve,” he told Sportstar here on Monday.

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The academy is situated at Melakottaiyur, which is more than 40 kms from the heart of the city, and Sharath said entry for spectators will be free. “We want more people to come and watch our facility, which has a seating capacity of around 700,” he informed. The World Table Tennis officials, said Sharath, are happy with the venue so far. “They would want to know how good the academy will be which has been so far used for training, hold up to tournaments,” he said.

The 10-time national champion said he will soon start the selection process to pick 15 paddlers in the age group of 11 to 17 years who will be part of the academy’s residential facility.

Published on Feb 09, 2026