‘Athletes got experience of living in containers’: Sharath Kamal on Asian Games accommodation challenge

India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta (AP/PTI) India’s deputy Asian Games chef Achanta Sharath Kamal believes Indian athletes will have little trouble adjusting to the unusual accommodation at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, despite concerns raised by some participating countries.India’s 501 athletes and 265 officials will stay in a mix of converted shipping containers, a docked cruise ship and hotels after the Games begin on September 19. While the container rooms have been criticized as cramped, Sharath said Indian athletes already have some experience of staying in similar facilities.“For the players, on the instructions of the Sports Authority of India, we had some containers built at various SAI campuses where the athletes got the experience of staying in containers. And of course, cruise ships, we tried to emulate that,” Sharath said, according to PTI.Around 4,000 to 5,000 athletes will stay on the luxury cruise ship Costa Serena in Nagoya Port, while around 2,000 will be housed in modified shipping containers at the Garden Pier in Nagoya Bay. The rest will stay in hotels near the race venues in Aichi and for some events, such as swimming, in Tokyo.

The athletes prepared for the challenge

Sharath, who is also the vice-chairman of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) athletes’ committee, said the bigger concern was officials who were not given the same opportunity as the athletes to experience the temporary accommodation in advance.“But at the same time, the players know what to expect. We’ve brought them up very well. And I’m pretty sure they’ll get used to it pretty quickly,” he said.“The important thing is the performance. I am sure they will be able to perform well.”

At least one TT medal

Sharath also expects the Indian table tennis team to return with at least one medal. The 10-member squad includes five men and five women, with India’s medal hopes including the men’s doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah and the mixed doubles pair of Manush and Diya Chitale.“My expectation is to win at least one medal if not two. Last time we won one medal in women’s doubles. And before that we won two bronze medals in 2018,” Sharath said.“The men’s doubles pair of Manush and Manav are doing extremely well. They were world number two at one point. Now they are in the top four. And they have a great chance of a medal,” the 44-year-old said.“So we have a great chance to win medals at those two events. And of course the team championships are always a pretty open event.”Table tennis competitions will be held from September 20 to 28.