Birmingham: He turned 40 last month. But Achanta Sharath Kamal is among those sportspersons who actually believe that age is just a number.
And India’s table tennis legend proved it in the Commonwealth Games 2022, capping off a truly memorable campaign with the men’s singles gold.
Achanta shrugged off the loss of the opening game to simply steamroll home favourite Liam Pitchford 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 in the final at Birmingham on Monday.
Achanta had earlier bagged the mixed team event and mixed doubles (with Sreeja Akula) gold medals besides the men’s doubles silver (with G Sathiyan) in these Games.
In an incredible feat, the champion from Chennai regained the men’s singles event 16 years after he first clinched it in the 2006 Melbourne Games.
The nine-time national champion has set up a unique feat of winning medals in five consecutive Commonwealth Games.
His tally of 13 medals include 7 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.
