Sreeja Akula

Last updated

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

Contents

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

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

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

YearTournamentFinal opponentScore
2024 WTT

Contender Lagos

Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Yijie 4–1
2024WTT Feeder Corpus Christi Flag of the United States.svg Lily Zhang 3–0
2024WTT Feeder Beirut II Flag of Luxembourg.svg Sarah De Nutte 3–1

Awards

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharath Kamal</span> Indian table tennis player

Achanta Sharath Kamal is an Indian professional table tennis player. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become ten time Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight-time National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award and in 2022, he was awarded the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour. He beat Joo Se Hyuk and Chuang Chih-yuan, world no. 8 and 16 respectively in 2015 28th Asian cup at Jaipur. Sharath won the men's singles gold in the 16th Commonwealth table tennis championship held at Kuala Lumpur in 2004. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award for the year 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouma Das</span> Indian table tennis player

Mouma Das is an Indian table tennis player. Born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal, she has represented India in international events since the early 2000s. Das has won multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games including a gold in the Women's Team Competition in 2018. She was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting honour in 2013 for her contributions to the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mima Ito</span> Japanese table tennis player (born 2000)

Mima Ito is a Japanese table tennis player. She won a bronze medal in the Women's Team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics at age 15. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal with her partner Jun Mizutani in the inaugural mixed doubles event, bronze in women's singles, and silver in the women's team event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miu Hirano</span> Japanese table tennis player

Miu Hirano is a Japanese table tennis player. She won Women's World Cup in 2016 as the youngest ever winner. She won the women's singles at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships by sweeping away three top Chinese players. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in women's team event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liang Jingkun</span> Chinese table tennis player

Liang Jingkun Chinese: 梁靖崑; pinyin: Liáng Jìngkūn is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 2 in ITTF. He is a three-time bronze medalist in men's singles at the World Table Tennis Championships.

Manika Batra is an Indian table tennis player. She is a triple gold medalist at the South Asian Games, a double gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, and a bronze medalist at the Asian Games, Asian Championships, and Asian Cup. She is India's number two in women and her world rank is 27 as of Nov 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeon Ji-hee</span> Chinese-born South Korean table tennis player

Jeon Ji-hee, born Tian Minwei, is a Chinese-born South Korean table tennis player of Manchu ethnicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruna Takahashi</span> Brazilian table tennis player

Bruna Yumi Takahashi is a Brazilian table tennis player. She represented Brazil at the Summer Olympics two times since 2016. She is one of the best Americas players in the ITTF world ranking, after Puerto Rico's Adriana Diaz. Her sister Giulia Takahashi also plays table tennis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hina Hayata</span> Japanese table tennis player (born 2000)

Hina Hayata is a Japanese international table tennis player. She is the most successful player on the ITTF Challenge Series since its inception in 2017. Owing to her stature, she is able to generate more spin on both sides than most female players. She is coached by Daisuka Ishida.

Sutirtha Mukherjee is an Indian table tennis player from West Bengal. She has won national table tennis championship and also was a part of gold medal winning Indian women's team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mukherjee also represented India at the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2022 Asian Games.She won the bronze medal for India in women's doubles table tennis in the 2022 Asian Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmeet Desai</span> Indian table tennis player

Harmeet Desai is an Indian table tennis player. He is from Surat. In 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, He won gold in men's team event with Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran & Sanil Shetty and bronze in Men's doubles event with Sanil Shetty. Harmeet Desai won the men's singles title at Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships 2019 at Cuttack, defeated favorite Sathiyan Gnanasekaran to claim the men's singles title. He has been honoured with the Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomokazu Harimoto</span> Japanese table tennis player (born 2003)

Tomokazu Harimoto is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 9 in ITTF. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014. He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships for Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miyu Nagasaki</span> Japanese table tennis player

Miyu Nagasaki is a Japanese table tennis player.

Ayhika Mukherjee is an Indian table tennis player from West Bengal. She was part of the Indian team for the 2018 Asian Games and 2022 Asian Games. She, along with Sutirtha Mukherjee, won the bronze medal for India in women's doubles table tennis in the Asian Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wang Chuqin</span> Chinese table tennis player

Wang Chuqin is a Chinese professional table tennis player. He is the top ranked player in the ITTF world ranking. He was the silver medallist in men's singles, gold medallist in mixed doubles with Sun Yingsha and gold medallist in men's doubles with Fan Zhendong for the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships in Durban. He won the men's singles title at the WTT Cup Finals in 2021 and WTT Champions Xinxiang in 2022. He was crowned the men's singles title at WTT Champions Macao twice. Wang also won gold along with teammates Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan and Ma Long at the 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships. He won gold in the men's singles and mixed team events at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun Yingsha</span> Chinese table tennis player

Sun Yingsha is a Chinese professional table tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Franziska</span> German table tennis player

Patrick Franziska is a German table tennis player. He is currently sponsored by Butterfly and plays with FC Saarbrücken-TT in the German Bundesliga (TTBL).

Miyuu Kihara is a Japanese table tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shin Yu-bin</span> South Korean table tennis player (born 2004)

Shin Yu-bin is a South Korean table tennis player.

Sophie Earley is a Northern Irish table tennis player who represents England. As of November 2021, she ranked twelfth in the world Under-15 division. She participated at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the Women's singles and Mixed doubles. In singles, Earley reached the round of 16 before being knocked out and in the Mixed doubles she reached the round of 32 alongside Owen Cathcart before being knocked out.

References

  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. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 1 2 "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.