Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal believes in adopting a practical approach. The 27-year-old who arrived in the state capital on Friday evening to play in the 19th Asian Table Tennis Championships beginning November 16, had no hesitation in admitting that Indian men's team would be aiming to at least make it to the quarter-finals.

“We were placed 8th in the last edition of the tournament. Things are not that easy, so first we are looking forward to getting into the quarter-final slot.” Sharath is presently ranked 70th in the world and is India’s star paddler in the Asian meet.

In an exclusive chat with The Indian Express, Sharath, who claimed a gold in men's singles event in the 2006 Commonwealth Games held at Melbourne, confided, “ I have been sweating it out hard for the past three years for the Commonwealth Games 2010. I practise for nearly eight hours daily. We did well in the last edition of Commonwealth Games with the men’s team claiming a gold and I winning the men's singles gold also. The Indian women too got a bronze in the event. We hope to put up a good show again. Claiming golds on home turf is something different altogether!”

Talking about the reason for the Chinese domination in the sport of table-tennis, the Arjuna awardee said, “ Table tennis is a part of the ‘Chinese tradition’ whereas sports is regarded as a co-curricular activity in India. Though we are growing as a sporting nation but be it the parents or the teachers, everybody is more concerned about your academic record here. This approach cannot change overnight.”

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