For the first time in nearly 16 years, six-time National table tennis champion A. Sharath Kamal will compete in the qualifying rounds of a domestic tournament.

Having missed two National ranking tournaments in Indore and Rajkot and lost in the quarterfinals of the All-India inter-institution championship (Jaipur), Sharath did not have sufficient rankings points for the South Zone tournament which begins in Visakhapatnam on October 20.

The 34-year-old said he can’t recollect the last time he was not seeded in a National-ranking tournament. “In similar situations before, I was seeded No. 1,” he said.

But circumstances have changed. In June this year, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had made a rule change wherein the cumulative points from all domestic tournaments, instead of the best three performances, would be the eligibility criterion.

When the TTFI asked him to play in the qualifiers, Sharath was visibly upset. Later, when it explained the rationale — the TTFI felt he needed time to adjust to the conditions of the table and the seamless GKI balls — Sharath saw reason. “I realised that they (TTFI) did not want to punish me. It was for my good. And moreover, they said I can take a call whether to play in the qualifies or in the main draw,” he said.

Sharath said he has requested the organisers to schedule his three qualifying matches in such a manner that he gains match practice and still gets time to train. “I asked them (TTFI) for shorter intervals between matches so that I don’t have to wait long for my next match.”

Sharath revealed that he would give the club-based Champions League a miss if his team, Borussia Dusseldorf, makes it to the play-offs and instead play the Senior National championships in Gurgaon (Haryana) from January 31 to February 6, 2017.