Sreeja Akula creates a career- high ranking history by playing singles at table tennis and thus became the first Indian table tennis player to win a title of WTT Contender on 25th June,2024 where it was possile to achieve great results with the preparation done under recently-appointed head coach ‘Massimo Costantini’. Sreeja became India’s top-most paddler with a rank of 24. She’s 25 years old and now she wishes to create momentum and aims to achieve the Paris Olympics through her sports spirit.
Sreeja Akula
Sreeja Akula is an Indian Table Tennis player where she has recieved Indian national champion for two times. Currently she’s ranked as India’s number one in Women’s single. Not just this, but she had accomplished many awards such as Arjuna Award, Common Wealth Games in the year 2022, who also won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with Sharath Kamal. Sreeja, who played an essential role in showcasing India is qualified for the team event which is going to be at Paris 2024. Akula has currently won the title of India’s first ever WTT Contender Lagos.
She will be participating in both the team and individual events and she has a great confidence built up for the upcoming events as she has hit a purple patch this year.
During an Interview Sreeja quoted: “It’s my debut Olympic Games but I think I am well prepared for the tournament. I just want to play my best in whichever event I am playing and just want to create the maximum number of upsets.” Sreeja had teamed up with Achanta Sharath Kamal to play mixed doubles and won the gold in in 2022 which were played for the first time at Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Career
Sreeja Akula’s career path began by gaining gold in Women’s Doubles and in Table Tennis at South Asians Games in 2019.
On April 2022 Akula won the women’s singles as well as doubles in table tennis which she had recieved a titles at the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships. She was also declared as the runner-up in National Women’s Singles in the previous events encountered where she loses the match to Manika Batra. She too part in mixed doubles with with Sharath kamal and received a gold medal for winning the match at Common Wealth Games.
She has achieved this feat by beating China’s Ding Yijie with a score of 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6.in the ultimate clash. At the same event, she also won the championship in women’s doubles title alongside Archana Kamath .
She had upset World No. 2 Wang Yidi of China at the 2023 ITTF World Team Championships, currently by winning the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 singles and hereby addes another victory in Beirut two months later.
Peparation for Paris Games 2024
Can’t wait 🤩 https://t.co/PP4qrc7qlm
— Sreeja Akula (@SreejaAkula31) June 26, 2024
Sreeja has given more focus on the fitness and by improving her mental health as well. She is now all se for the upcoming event at Paris Games 2024.
She said “For the last two years, I have been working a lot on improving my mental strength and I think that is the first aspect where I have improved, especially in 2024.” All the eyes of India are on Sreeja Akula.
