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India paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal’s over two-decade long career concluded with the men’s singles round of 16 exit at the 2025 WTT Star Contender in Chennai on March 29. Sharath put up an intense fight against his junior colleague Snehit Suravajulla in the pre quarter-final game, played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. However, he lost courage eventually and went down by 0-3 against the youngster. The crowd present at the stadium cheered for Sharath to boost his confidence in the final game of his career. In response to spectators’ felicitation, Sharath expressed gratitude by bowing down.
Snehit displayed composure during the match and recorded 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 figures to beat Sharath. Before this contest, Sharath and Snehit lost their games against South Korea’s An Jae Hyun and Lim Jong Hoon respectively in the men’s singles semi-finals. After his loss, Sharath remarked “Everybody expects me to be the favourite against the Indian boys but personally, I would have loved to face a foreigner because I can then go all guns blazing. I lost the first game 9-11. I led 5-1 in the second. I should have won at least one set to figure out what was happening.”
“The way this tournament has ended for me, I could not have asked for anything more. I didn’t expect much from the tournament but reaching the semifinals in men’s doubles and last 16 in singles (was great). Of course, I would have loved to keep playing today, win and come back tomorrow because the fans were fantastic,” said the 42-year-old on his exit from the game.
Sharath congratulates Snehit for scintillating international performance
Sharath commended Snehit’s efforts in internationals but also pointed towards the youngster’s ordinary show in the domestic arena. The 24-year-old is currently holding the 123rd spot in the rankings. “Snehit played well. He’ll probably now break into the Top 100. This season, especially the last two months, the domestic part was not very good for him but the international performances in the last few months have been really good. It’s good to have so many of these younger talents push each other,” said Sharath.
In his long illustrious career, Sharath added 10 national titles to his profile. He also showed up in five editions of the Olympic Games, played between 2004 and 2024. He also won 13 Commonwealth Games medals (7 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze). In November 2022, he became the sole recipient of the Khel Ratna award in November 2022. He was also bestowed with the Arjuna Award in 2004 and Padma Shri award in 2019.
