"Better Late Than Never": Paddler Sharath Kamal On Winning Khel Ratna At 40

Sharath Kamal was among 42 Khel Ratna aspirants this year, including hockey players Harmanpreet Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Savita Punia and Vandana Katariya

At 40, the prestigious Khel Ratna award came pretty late for Sharath Kamal, but the star table tennis player on Saturday said the recognition was "better late than never", and it will inspire him to give one last shot at Olympic glory. Sharath was on Friday recommended as the only athlete for this year's Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, the country's highest sporting honour, for his stupendous performance in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where he won four medals, including three gold and one silver.

"Really proud moment. At this age getting this award, inspiring so many millions across different sports is really wonderful. It's come pretty late in my career but better late than never," Sharath told PTI.

"For the amount of sacrifice and the work I have put in, especially post 2015 the second stage of my career -- the Sharath Kamal 2.0 post the hamstring injury, the rise has been consistent and growing exponentially. I am really happy and I would like to thank my coaches, my support staff." "I am looking forward to the Paris Olympics and this will really encourage me. Of course the CWG and Tokyo has given me the right direction to get into the Paris, and hopefully, a medal there will be the best thing that can happen to any sportperson's life," he added.

Sharath was among 42 Khel Ratna aspirants this year, including hockey players Harmanpreet Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Savita Punia and Vandana Katariya.