♦ India’s Table Tennis (TT) icon Achanta Sharath Kamal announced his retirement from the sport on 5 March 2025.

♦ The upcoming WTT Star Contender in Chennai will mark the end of his illustrious career. Sharath Kamal leaves behind a legacy as a 10-time national champion and the country’s top-ranked men’s singles player, currently placed 42nd in the WTT rankings. 

♦ In a career spanning over two decades, Sharath has won 13 Commonwealth Games medals, including seven golds, two Asian Games bronze medals, and two ITTF Pro Tour titles.

♦ Sharath’s career took off in 2003 when he claimed his first national title, and his international breakthrough came in 2004 when he won his first medal at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.

♦ The same year, he earned a spot at the 2004 Athens Olympics, marking the beginning of his Olympic journey.

♦ The Arjuna Award was bestowed on him in 2004, followed by a historic singles gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

♦ In 2022, Sharath earned India’s highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.