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Sreeja Akula

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Sreeja Akula
Akula in 2022
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1998-07-31) 31 July 1998 (age 26)
Hyderabad, India[1]
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Highest ranking22 (06 August 2024)[2]
Current ranking23 (12 November 2024)[3]
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  India
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Mixed doubles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Astana Women's team
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu–Pokhara Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu–Pokhara Women's team

Sreeja Akula (born 31 July 1998) is an Indian table tennis player. She is a two-time Indian national champion. She is currently ranked India number one in women's singles.[4] Akula received the Arjuna Award in 2022.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Akula won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with Sharath Kamal. In June 2024, she became the first Indian to win a singles title at the WTT Contender level by clinching the top spot at WTT Contender Lagos.

She also became the second ever Indian paddler to reach the Pre-Quarterfinals in the Olympics at the Paris Olympics 2024.[5]

Early life and education

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Sreeja hails from Hyderabad. Both her father Praveen Kumar, a manager in a private insurance company, and elder sister Ravali are table tennis players.[6] Ravali played at the university level. Sreeja trained under coach Somnath Ghosh,[7] at his academy at Kukatpally, Hyderabad. Before that she learnt the basics at St Paul's Academy in Basheer Bagh when she was nine years and continued the game at YMCA in Narayanguda,[6] She passed her intermediate (plus two) with 98.7 percent and then graduated in commerce. Telangana State Table Tennis Association (TSTTA) Secretary Nagendra Reddy was one of her first coaches.[6]

Career

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Akula was the gold medalist in Women's Doubles and Women's Team events in Table tennis at the 2019 South Asian Games.[8]

Akula won the women's singles and doubles table tennis titles at the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships held in April 2022.[9] She was the runner-up in national Women's singles in the previous edition, losing to Manika Batra. She was also a part of the Indian team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she won gold medal in mixed doubles event with Sharath Kamal.[6][10]

In January 2024, Sreeja won her maiden WTT singles career title at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi in Texas.[10] This was followed by her second singles career title at the WTT Feeder Beirut II in March 2024 where she beat Luxembourg's Sarah De Nutte 3-1 (6–11, 12–10, 11–5, 11–9) in the final.[11] Sreeja defeated WR2 Chinese paddler Wang Yidi in a group match at 2024 World Team Championships, although her team narrowly lost the tie as 2–3. At the WTT Contender Lagos in June 2024, Akula became the first Indian to win a title at the Contender level. She achieved this feat by beating China's Ding Yijie with a 4–1 score in the ultimate clash. At the same event, she also won the women's doubles title alongside Archana Kamath.[12]

Singles Titles

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Year Tournament Final opponent Score
2024 WTT

Contender Lagos

China Ding Yijie 4–1
2024 WTT Feeder Corpus Christi United States Lily Zhang 3–0
2024 WTT Feeder Beirut II Luxembourg Sarah De Nutte 3–1

Awards

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Akula received the Arjuna Award in 2022.[6][13][14]

References

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  1. ^ Krishan Gundra, Shiva (25 April 2022). "Akula Sreeja, the new queen of Indian table tennis". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Women's Singles 2024 Week #32 - August 06". ITTF. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  3. ^ "ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking Women's Singles 2024 Week #32 - August 6". ITTF. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  4. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V. (2 January 2024). "Sreeja shifts focus to Paris Olympics after ranking first in women's singles for the fourth consecutive year". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Paris Olympics: Birthday girl Sreeja Akula follows Manika into pre-quarters".
  6. ^ a b c d e Tomar, Ajay (18 February 2024). "Telangana paddler Sreeja Akula has her eyes set on Paris Olympics after beating World No 2". The South First. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  7. ^ Subrahmanyam, V. V. (2 January 2024). "Sreeja shifts focus to Paris Olympics after ranking first in women's singles for the fourth consecutive year". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  8. ^ Today, Telangana (25 April 2022). "Akula Sreeja, the new queen of Indian table tennis". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Senior TT Championships: Sharath Kamal wins 10th national title, Sreeja Akula her first". 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Mental strength, variations and forearm conditioning on national TT champion Sreeja Akula's mind as she aims for Olympic qualification". The Indian Express. 23 January 2024. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  11. ^ Nag, Utathya (24 March 2024). "WTT Feeder Beirut II 2024: Sreeja Akula wins singles title". Olympics. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Table Tennis: Sreeja Akula does the double: Wins singles and doubles WTT titles in Lagos". The Indian Express. 23 June 2024. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  13. ^ Today, Telangana (16 November 2022). "Arjuna Award a big motivation, says Hyderabad paddler Sreeja". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Birmingham CWG star Sreeja Akula excited to be honoured with Arjuna award". The Times of India. 30 November 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
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