Not long after showcasing her talent at the Paris Olympics 2024, the 24-year-old table tennis player Archana Kamath has quit the sport, which has left coach Anshul Garg numb. (More Sports News)
The young table tennis sensation saw no future in the sport, and has decided to go to the United States to pursue academics.
Kamath did not have a straightforward ticket to Paris as her spot in the three-member side was doubted, questioned when she was picked over Ayhika Mukherjee, who had defeated World No.1 Sun Yingsha and was in brilliant form.
However, she did not let the outside noise derail her performance and played a pivotal part in the Indian women’s table tennis side etching their name into the history books by reaching the quarters of the team event, which was India’s best result at the Games in table tennis.
Archana, even in India’s loss to Germany, was the lone fighter, winning the match against a higher-ranked Xiaona Shan.
When she asked her coach if they could win a medal at the Games in Los Angeles, Garg had no words.
“I told her that it’s difficult. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. She’s ranked outside the top 100 in the world but she improved so much in the past couple of months. But I think she had already made up her mind to go. And once she makes up her mind, it’s difficult to change it,” Garg was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
Archana has plans to take another route, away from the sport which does not have a proper pay unless one reaches the semi-final of any event. Despite having good sponsorship deals, the unknown of an Olympic medal has pushed her in taking up studies.
“My brother works at NASA. He’s my idol and he too encourages me to study. So I make the time to complete all my studies and I enjoy it. I’m good at it too,” Archana said.
The 24-year-old’s decision, however, does raise concerns, whether the sport is economically feasible to play at a professional level in India.
