Five-time Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal has taken up a new roles as India’s deputy Chef de Mission for the Asian Games 2026 in Japan
Updated: September 17, 2026, 1:37 PM IST
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Achanta Sharath Kamal is Deputy Chef de Mission of Indian contingent at Asian Games 2026(Photo: IANS)
Asian Games 2026: Achanta Sharath Kamal is one of the decorated Olympians that India has ever seenSince making his debut at the Athens Olympics in 2004, the former paddler turned out in a total of five Olympics – Paris 2024 being his final oneSince retiring from the sport in 2025, Sharath Kamal has taken up a new job and his first big task is serving as India’s deputy chef de mission at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.
A massive Indian contingent of 501 athletes and 265 officials are headed to Japan for the Asian Games this time around and Sharath Kamal is bracing himself for a big responsibilityThe seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist spoke exclusively to India.com from Nagoya about the change of roles and upcoming challenges at Asian Games.
Career transitioning was something which I actively started looking at since 2022I was looking at what are the roles that I can play in terms of administration, in terms of a mentor, in terms of various other thingsWhen the Asian Games deputy chef de mission job was offered me by the IOA, I was really happy that I was recognized for thisThere’s a lot for me to learn and it’s a great experience for me,” Sharath Kamal told India.com from Nagoya.
“I’m already in Japan trying to work out things and teams are starting to come in todayWe are trying to make sure that the athletes are in the right preparatory mode for the next couple of days,” he added.
The countdown to Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is almost over!
Here’s what’s on the schedule for Team India on 17 September as our athletes take on the Asian Games stage.
Get ready to cheer, support and celebrate every moment!
One teamOne dreamOne India… pic.twitter.com/eOJ2SUIm9a
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 16, 2026
One of the biggest talking points at the Asian Games 2026 in Japan is the ‘accommodation’ for the athletes and officials – 17000 of whom are set to descend to JapanSharath Kamal is bang in the middle of all of this having to sort out various issues in the lead up to the Games which officially begin on Saturday.
“Cricket teams are all well cared forThere are a lot of other athletes from various sports who are coming in todayOf course, there’s a lot of shortage in terms of the rooms hereBut we are trying to collectively work with the organization committeeAt the same time, IOA and Sports Authority of India, both of them have been working closely so that we are able to find additional hotels, not just accommodation, but also catering and transportationAll logistical aspects that are there to make sure that the athletes are staying as close as possible to the venues,” India’s deputy chef de mission revealed.
“So, of course, we knew what we’re getting into a year ago when there were cruise ships and containers as accommodationSo, we prepped the Indian players also accordingly,” he added.
‘India will feel pressure of matching Hangzhou medal haul’
India came back from Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou with a record high tally of 106 medals including 28 goldsSharath Kamal, who is also vice-chair of Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA), felt that the Indian athletes will feel the pressure of matching the medal haul from Hangzhou.
“In Hangzhou, we achieved a record thereWe bagged more than 100 medals at HangzhouOf course, heading into this Asian Games, we do have the pressure of winning, breaking that recordBut at the same time, I’m pretty confident the players are all well preparedAlso, as administrators, we’ve been working on this over the last one yearI’ve been in Japan twice prior to this just to visit the stadiums, the various facilities that will be coming acrossThe entire landscape has changed to what I saw six months ago,” the two-time Asian Games bronze medallist said.
‘Table tennis men’s doubles team will be medal favourites’
The Padma Shri award-winning paddler also had high expectations from India’s table tennis contingent, who had won a bronze medal in women’s doubles event at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
“This time around, the men’s double are quite highly rankedWe’ll be in the top four of the rankingsSo that will be a strong medal contention the men’s doubles with Manav Thakar and Manush Shah.
“Of course, also the mixed doubles with Manush and Diya Chitale will be in contentionThere is a small outside chance in mixed doubles as well because they’ve also been made wellIn the team championships, that’s the first medal that we got in 2018, that option is always thereIf the three of them play well on any particular day collectively, I think we can beat some of the best players in the worldSo we beat Japan, who were former world champions prior to that,” he added.
‘Every country will look at financial sustainability going forward’
Japan have opted not to spend on lavish Athletes Village like previous multi-discipline Games and instead make-shift arrangements like 4000-5000 athletes housed in a luxury cruise liner – the Costa Serena – docked at Nagoya Port and around 2,000 athletes staying in converted shipping container units at the Garden Pier in Nagoya BaySharath Kamal believes more and more countries will be keeping ‘financial sustainability’ in mind while hosting major sporting events.
“I think even the Olympic Games is looking at sustainability, not just in terms of the environment and stuff, but also in terms of financial sustainabilitySo, all these multi-sport games have huge costs incurred, but there’s a lot of infrastructure that is developed over time and a sporting culture that comes upI don’t know how it will be in the next Asian GamesBut again, financial sustainability is something which every country would be looking at,” he said.
Post his retirement, Sharath Kamal is associated with the Dream Sports Foundation as the ambassador for Dream Sports Championship Table Tennis“It’s been two years now with Dream Sports Foundation and the Dream Sports Championships for table tennis, where I’ve been like a mentor, talking to the kids, helping them during the workshops and also assisting them during their competitionsSo it was a great experience, especially also working with the under-15, which I feel Dream Sports is rightly doing it because these under-15 are the ones whom we’re looking at winning Olympic medals 10 years from now,” he said.
