LUCKNOW, January 24: Achanta Sharath Kamal has just returned from Bremen, Germany, slimmer and much fitter. He had his first brief meeting with new foreign coach from Poland, Leszek Kucharski, and was chalking out a plan for the forthcoming Asian Championships and the subsequent World Championships and the Olympic qualifiers.

But his immediate plan is to make his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board colleagues up the ante in the ongoing Senior National and Inter-State Championships here and help the team retain the crown. One could see the beaming faces of Amal Raj and Soumydeep Roy when they spotted Sharath cheering for the team

Sharath’s achievements have been the fountainhead of inspiration for the upcoming youngsters. His ideology is simple and straight. “I learnt things from my seniors and I want the youngsters to pick up something from my game that can help them reach even greater heights,” says Sharath, reasoning out why he makes it a point to come and participate in the Senior Nationals. This is something that augurs well for the future of the game.

Sharath admits he has had his ups and downs in the past year and that has taught him to be a tougher person now. “I went through a bad patch last year between April and September but I have returned with a lot of confidence. From here things can only get better,” he adds.

Sharath was left to fend for himself after Italian coach Massimo Constantini departed at the end of his contract with TTFI after the Guangzhou Asian Games. That left him rudderless as Constantini used to make plans which Sharath was executing with precision. With his form going down and other external factors clouding him, Sharath was unable to plan things the way they should have been.

Now with a hectic season ahead with the Asian Championship next month at Macau, the World Championships in Dortmund, Germany and followed the Olympic qualifiers in Hong Kong, Sharath has very little time left to prepare for the London Games.  “What I am happy with is my graph is again rising and I have to pick up the threads from here,” says the world No. 79.

Though he is confident of qualifying for the Olympics, he realizes the problem of winning a medal at London Games. “I am confident I will be there, but realistically speaking, we don’t have any medal chance,” he says. He, however, hopes he can regain the form he had touched during the Asian Championship in Lucknow in 2009 and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. “My mental state was at its highest and it helped me do well in the US Open and Egypt Open. I want to reach that zone before Olympics.”

He also believes that with the experience paddlers can only peak. “Between 28 and 32 players peak in table tennis and I am looking forward to doing well from now on. Nevertheless, he believes that the current younger lot is doing a tremendous job and they are getting noticed abroad with their performance. “I am sure they have made the world sit up and take notice of their presence,” says Sharath, adding, “they need to be brought into the mainstream (senior section) now so that the transition is smooth. “