Sharath Kamal has become the first Indian player to be elected in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Athletes’ Commission earlier this week.
Eight athletes – four male and four female – were elected from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania along with the two highest-voted para-athletes. The elected players will serve in the ITTF Athletes’ Commission for a four-year term from 2022 to 2026.
While Sharath Kamal, with 187 votes, was the highest-voted athlete from Asia and second-highest overall, Elizabeta Samara of Romania, a 2012 table tennis World Cup silver medallist, got 212 votes.
The online elections took place between November 7 to 13 and the number of voters increased to 283 compared to 240 in 2018. Likewise, the number of para-athletes who voted in 2022 also increased to 155 from 54 in the 2018 elections.
Rio 2016 champion Liu Shiwen from China, with 153 votes, also made the cut being the eighth-highest-voted athlete.
Sharath Kamal was also elected as the member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday.
ITTF Athletes’ Commission: Full list
Male: Sharath Kamal (India), Omar Assar (Egypt), Stefan Fegerl (Austria), Jon Persson (Sweden)
Female: Elizabeta Samara (Romania), Daniely Rios (Puerto Rico), Melissa Tapper (Australia), Liu Shiwen (China).
Para-Athletes: Ingela Lundback (Sweden) and Kelly van Zon (Netherlands).
