Sharath Kamal waiting for Denmark visa

BENGALURU: It has been a frustrating wait for Sharath Kamal. After having planned a month-long training and match practice schedule in Denmark, the seasoned paddler has been left to train with his sparring partners at home in Chennai as he awaits his visa.
Sharath, who submitted his documents to the embassy on May 10, hasn't got a reply till today. Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju too has tried to help but in vain, leaving Sharath with no choice but to either curtail his stint in Copenhagen or cancel the tour.
"The plan was to train for a month with the Danish and Swedish teams in Copenhagen. It would have been a good exposure for me, especially with the Swedish squad too being in Denmark. It has been four Mondays since I submitted the papers at the embassy. No reply yet," Sharath told TOI.
The veteran paddler, who qualified for the Olympics at the Asian tournament in Doha in March this year, said he would cancel his tour plans if he does not get the visa by the end of this week. "I was looking forward to this trip. I hadn't travelled overseas for training or competition owing to the pandemic, except Doha. If I get the visa by this week, I may get around two weeks of practice in Copenhagen. If I don't get the visa, I would rather focus on training in Chennai before moving to a camp later in the month for my mixed doubles training with Manika Batra."
Sharath admitted it wasn't the ideal situation for the four paddlers — G Sathiyan, Manika and Sutirtha Mukherjee being the others — who have qualified for the Olympics.
"Our preparation, especially after our return from Doha, has been badly affected owing to the lockdown. Home is not the best place to train but we have been doing just that, with sparring partners. Only Sathiyan had an opportunity to play in Poland for a couple of weeks.”
Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah are also scheduled to travel with Sharath to Denmark if the visa is processed. Sathiyan too has expressed his eagerness to train in Copenhagen but that is likely to happen only if Sharath and the other players cross the embassy hurdle.