Kamlesh Navichandra Mehta (born 1 May 1960) is an Indian retired table tennis player. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed him as the national observer for table tennis.

Personal life

Nicknamed Kamu, Kamlesh Mehta was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

on 1 May 1960. After primary school at St. Joseph's

Wadala Wadala (also spelled Vadala, formerly spelt Wuddala, �əɖaːɭa is a locality in Mumbai. Wadala Road is a station on the Harbour Line of Mumbai's railway network. Overview Wadala has several schools and some renowned institutions like ...

branch, he went to R. A. Podar College in

to graduate in Commerce and then joined

Dena Bank Dena Bank was a government-owned bank that in 2019 merged with Bank of Baroda. It was headquartered in Mumbai and had 1,874 branches. The bank was founded in 1938 as a privately owned Bank. In 1969 the Government of India nationalized ''Dena Ban ...

. He is married to the table tennis player from Assam, Monalisa Baruah.(Monalisa Baruah Mehta )

Table tennis career

Kamlesh was the captain of the Indian team from 1982 to 1989 and was the highest ranked Indian player in Asia, the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and the world. He played in the final of the national championships on eleven occasions between 1981 and 1994, winning the title eight times. He was runner-up on three occasions. Kamlesh represented India in seven world championships, eight Asian championships, two

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, four

South Asian Federation games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

, two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and many other official and friendly competitions in India and abroad. His best performance came in the SAF Games in 1991 at

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

where he won seven gold and four silver medals. He won the World Bank Championship at the Isle of Man (UK) in 1989. He won all four gold medals at the Pentangular International Championships in 1983.

Awards

During a nearly twenty-year career, Kamlesh Mehta has received numerous recognitions. The

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Government's Shiv

Chhatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit language.The word ‘Chhatrapati’ is a Sanskrit language compound word (tatpurusha in Sanskrit) of ''Chatra (umbrella), chhatra'' (''parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and ''pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). Th ...

Award was the first, received in 1979 followed in 1984 by The Friendship Trophy for being the best player from India at the Asian Championship in Islamabad. He was twice named the Best Sportsman by the Sports Journalists' Association of Bombay. He was awarded the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

, in 1985. He was the first Indian to receive the Fair Play Trophy at the Commonwealth Championships, in 1989.

Coaching

Mehta has coached the Indian table tennis team on multiple occasions. His was first appointed in 1998 to coach the national team at the Osaka Asian Games. Later, he assisted the chief coach Massimo Constantini at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

References

External links

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sports reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Kamlesh 1960 births Living people Marathi people Indian male table tennis players Recipients of the Arjuna Award Olympic table tennis players of India Table tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Indian sports coaches Indian bankers Racket sportspeople from Mumbai Asian Games competitors for India South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in table tennis 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people