Archana Kamath quits table tennis to pursue academics

India’s Archana Kamath, who represented India at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has decided to step away from the sport of table tennis to focus on her education. Archana has opted to pursue higher education abroad instead of continuing with her table tennis career.

The 24-year-old Archana was part of the Indian women’s table tennis team that reached the quarter-finals at Paris 2024. It was the first time that the Indian team had managed to advance past the round of 16 stage at the Olympics.

However, India’s campaign came to an end after suffering a 3-1 loss to Germany. Archana, ranked 122nd, secured the only win over world No. 38 Shan Xiaona in the last eight for India.

Archana clinched her first national title in 2018 and finished a respectable fourth at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. She won the women’s doubles crown at the WTT Contender Lasko 2021 with Manika Batra and won the WTT Contender Lagos 2024 women’s doubles event with Sreeja Akula.

In 2022, Archana Kamath rose to a career-high world No. 4 in the women's doubles ranking with Manika Batra.

“She’s ranked outside the top 100 in the world but she improved so much in the past couple of months,” Archana’s coach Anshul Garg told the Indian Express. “But I think she had already made up her mind to go. And once she makes up her mind, it’s difficult to change it.”

Archana, who recently completed her Master’s degree in International Relations, Strategies and Securities, was also influenced to pursue higher education abroad by her brother, who works at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the USA.

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