Growth of Indian table tennis has forced China, S Korea to notice us: Sharath

India's recent streak of good performances at tournaments like the Asian and Commonwealth Games has grabbed eye-balls in table-tennis powerhouses like China and South Korea, according to veteran star A Sharath Kamal.

Indian paddlers had their best outing at the Gold CWG, bagging a record haul of eight medals including historic gold in the women's team and singles event in Gold Coast Games in 2018.

A few months later, at the Asian Games, the paddlers ended a 60-year-wait for a table tennis medal. The men's team comprising veteran Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan, Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar clinched a bronze at Jakarta.

"The teams are putting us on a very high level in world competition. Olympic silver medallist Kim Taek-Soo from South Korea came after the Asian games and said told us Indian team has become very strong now," Sharath said on the sidelines of the Ultimate Table Tennis curtain raiser.

"Chinese coaches also lined up and clapped for us even though we didn't beat them but because we put up a strong fight. So we know everyone is watching the growth of Indian Table Tennis," Sharath added.