New Delhi: It was June 2023 when the thought of calling it time from professional table tennis struck in the mind of Indian paddler Archana Kamath ahead of the Ultimate Table Tennis season 4. Only for coach Anshul Garg’s coaxing did the Karnataka-based player reverse that thought and persist with the racket.
It was just in late 2022 when Archana moved to Noida from Bengaluru to enhance her career in table tennis at Anshul’s personal academy after honing her skills at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence. Before this alliance, Archana missed the Commonwealth Games after being initially named to the squad, lost an appeal for the same in the Karnataka High Court, cast self-doubts, and was on the verge of losing steam.
This partnership somewhere helped the 24-year-old get back in her zone, win national tournaments, make upsets on the international stage, and improve her rankings. Though she failed to enter the top 100 it was enough to pip Asian Games doubles bronze medallist Ayhika Mukherjee to make the cut for the three-member India women’s team in the recently concluded Paris Olympics.
However, the partnership has ended following the conclusion of the Paris Games with Archana looking to focus on her academics, something she has been passionate about just the way she was with table tennis. Over the years, she managed to work on both in parallel lines, as her father Girish Kamath recalled. But now is the time when the Olympian has the conviction that she can only focus on one and that’s her academic career.
“There is clearly a reason why she wanted to do what she did. She is putting it out purely because of her passion for academics. She has been pursuing it all along while she has been playing all these years. She graduated, did her post-graduation from open university,” Girish told News9 Sports in an exclusive interview.
“Earlier, she wanted both the stints to run parallel. She has never had the privilege of attending a college all these years, sitting on a college bench among friends. Now, she wants to do that and pursue academics full-time. And then figure out where she is,” Archana’s father added.
Coach Anshul, who was taken aback by her student’s decision, though he feels it wasn’t a sudden one, elucidated how the youngster was attached to her books.
“Don’t know if everyone knows that she is very well in studies. She was always a little bit in dilemma whether ‘I have to pursue my studying career or table tennis career’,” Anshul told News9 Sports.
“I am also surprised that why she made this decision. After her match, she told me ‘Sir I am on very high note’. I don’t want to continue and I want a break little bit from table tennis. I want to pursue my studies. I tried to convince her this time also to play because it will take another 10 years and if you go the nation definitely lost a good player. But she made her decision, so we cannot do anything. This is not like sudden.”
“Whenever she is travelling with me, she is also studying. She said I don’t know about table tennis whether I can do better but through studies I can serve India better,” he added.
Lack of money not the reason behind Kamath’s decision
There were reports surfaced on various platforms that linked financial constraints influenced Archana’s decision to quit table tennis. However, the case is that she was part of the Indian government’s TOPS scheme, another scheme she benefitted from was the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), support also came from her state government (Karnataka government) and even the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) helped her with scholarship, as mentioned by Girish Kamath.
“And all this thing about funding or lack of it was not our views. God has been very kind to us and we have been able to support her. For her, she has received in table tennis activities whatever India can offer. She has no complaints on that front,” said Girish, who is a doctor by profession.
The essence of this decision is not to retire from the sport but to take a break from it, though the player herself can make the call whether to return or not to the sport which gave her the identity of a professional athlete. Archana wasn’t somehow confident of finishing on the podium in the next edition of the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
“Its a loss to Indian table tennis because she has been a very talented player and a very well-disciplined and behaved player. Of course, such decisions are very personal decisions and the federation respects the privacy of every player. On behalf of the federation, we would like to congratulate her,” Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Secretary General Kamlesh Mehta reacted to Archana’s decision.
Another young Indian paddler Manav Thakkar, who paired with Archana in the mixed doubles, was shocked to learn but all he showed was some words of encouragement for her teammate.
“It’s sad but I mean at the same time I wish her all the best because it’s her choice and I am sure she wouldn’t have taken this decision overnight. She would have thought many things and then only her parents would have made this big decision. I respect her on that,” Manav said, though he is yet to figure out who will be his next mixed doubles partner at the international stage.
Archana will join the University of Michigan as she is set to rest her racket and hold her books firmly for the next couple of years. The Indian table tennis circuit will have a void to fill of her potential for a while, but even the invincible has found a replacement, and so should there be one for Archana.
Archana Kamath has the adulation for academics just like she loved table tennis on the court. It’s that stage of her career where she felt the need to choose one between the two and the latter took a step back. The father of the player has denied that the decision isn’t influenced by ‘media reports of lack of funds’. Although she hasn’t announced retirement, there is no guarantee as well that she will mark her return before the table again. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
