Commonwealth Games: We'll be one-up, says Paddler Sharath Kamal

India's World No. 71 Sharath Kamal

India's table tennis received a major impetus in January this year when an unprecedented nine players broke into the top-100. The growth has been constant. It's no wonder then that veteran paddler Sharath, World No. 71, believes this 10-member team - G Sathiyan ranked World No. 49, No. 66 Harmeet Desai, No. 72 Sanil Shetty, No. 93 Anthony Amalraj, No. 66 Manika Batra, No. 71 Mouma Das, No. 108 Madhurika Patkar, No. 169 Pooja Sahasrabhdhe and No. 343 Sutirtha Mukherjee - is best equipped to improve on the single medal they won at the 2014 Glasgow CWG.

"I would be disappointed if we don't get the men's team gold. We are a fantastic side and are doing well too. At the moment, England are No. 1 and we are No. 2. We have never beaten England in the CWG, but have beaten them once in the World Championships. Hopefully, we can do it again," Sharath said after the Ultimate Table Tennis Player Draft for Season 2 yesterday.

"Then there is the men's doubles, where Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and myself have been doing well. In singles, Sathiyan will be No. 2 and I probably, will be No. 4, so we should make it to the semis at least. We stand a good chance in all categories - men's singles, doubles and mixed doubles, so it will be great if we can match our five-medal tally at the 2010 CWG in New Delhi," added the Arjuna awardee, who won silver in the doubles event along with Anthony Amalraj in the 2014 edition.
Amalraj reckoned the team can bring back four to five medals.

"Our team is very strong this time. We have been playing well for the last three to four years. We are seeded second. I hope we win gold in the men's event. The women too have a good team. Manika Batra and Mouma Das have been continuously winning medals on Pro tours," he said.

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