New Delhi, July 23: Achanta Sharath Kamal, one of the four Indians heading to Rio de Janerio for the Olympics, may not have been named as a part of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) team for the AAI 46th All India Inter-Institutional Championships, starting at the SMS Indoor Stadium from tomorrow. Yet, he will remain the major attraction of the championships here.

Age and injuries in the last couple of years, particularly the one suffered during the Suzhou World Championships in China last year, may have dimmed him somewhat but the skill he possesses, the experience he has gained over the years and, above all, his fortitude makes him the potent weapon that he is in any situation.

This, in a nutshell, sums up the 34-year-old Sharath who is expected to play the singles only here. The world No. 69, who has been preparing in Germany ever since he qualified for what could be his final Olympics appearance, naturally wants to bow out in style. In other words, he has made up his mind to completely focus on the singles.

But his mere presence in the stadium, more than the absence from team event, will pep up reigning champions PSPB’s title-winning chances even better. The likes of world No. 61 Soumyajit Ghosh, Anthony Amalraj, G. Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty who adore Sharath are enough to take care of the proceedings.

However, what will interest the followers of the sport the world over will be a final showdown between Ghosh, the current top-ranked Indian in the world, and Sharath in the singles. It will be a connoisseur’s delight. Ghosh has been preparing for the Games in Sweden and he, along with Sharath, had missed the North Zone championships at Chandigarh last month. Hence, a meeting between the two in singles, in whatever stage of the main draw, will give an idea of the form they are in and what to expect of them at Rio.

As for the women’s fare, PSPB will be spearheaded by the two Rio-bound players, Manika Batra and Mouma Das along with Madhurika Patkar, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe and K. Shamini. Reigning national champion Manika and Mouma did not have any noteworthy outing at Chandigarh. Maybe, they need to calm their nerves before they leave for Rio on July 31 and the Institutional Championships here will serve as a good appetizer. They can be rest assured of the team title, but individually what they can do will matter.

With 18 teams competing in men’s section, they have been divided into six groups of three each while the 11 teams in women’s category are bunched in three, led by PSPB in group A which has three teams.

In Youth team events, where only four teams each figure in Boys and Girls, it will be a round-robin affair with PSPB and hosts AAI boys and girls expected to retain their crowns. The real contest for the title in the Boys section could be between PSPB and Railways—both have the players and wherewithal to upstage each other. AAI, led by Ronit Bhanja, could be the dark horse.

But then they have a very strong Girls squad led by the exuberant Archana Girish Kamath, Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee and Hrshavardhini and yet they would be wary of Air India, with spirited Shruti Amrute, PSPB’s Amrutha Pushpak and Varuni Jaiswal and the Railways who have Sagarika Mukherjee and Anuska Dutta. In other words, it will not be business as usual for AAI girls.

The doubles events—two teams in men and women and four in mixed allowed—may not be as glamourous but they do offer reasonable prize money in each category to motivate all top pairs to compete. It was AAI who started it all two years ago and since then these events have caught the imagination of players, unlike some years ago. The total prize purse of the championships will be Rs. 4.25 lakh.

“We will use 16 Stag 1000 DX international model tables for the team championships and the individual events. GKI Premium 40+ *** (white plastic seamless) and Stag flooring will be used during the championships,” said competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer. A.S. Kler will be the chief referee and he will be assisted by deputy referees Anil Dubey and T.G. Upadhay and 41 technical officials, including Blue Badge, International and national umpires, from all around the country.

The added attraction of the championships will be the live streaming of show-court matches on YouTube along with live scoring on all tables. This will be second occasion after the North Zone championships at Chandigarh where the technology add-ons were introduced.

The opening day matches are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. with the women’s team events.