Meet Sreeja Akula, Indian Table Tennis Champ Taking on World's Best

India recently suffered a heartbreaking loss against China at the ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championship 2024 in Busan, South Korea. However, two names, Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee, echoed through the stadium as they posed a tough competition to some of the world's best players. Mukherjee, World No. 155, reigned supreme over World No. 1 Sun Yingsha, handing the Chinese champion her first-ever defeat 12-10, 2-11, 13-11, 11-6. Meanwhile, Commonwealth medallist Akula defeated World No. 2 Wang Yidi 11-7, 11-9, 13-11.

With her momentous performance on February 16, World No. 49 Akula now has her eyes set on the prize, a ticket to France. Quarterfinalists of the Busan Championships will be qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Who is Sreeja Akula?

Sreeja Akula was born in July 1998 in Telangana. Her interest in the sport stemmed at the age of nine from her father Praveen and her sister Ravali, who were both tennis players before delving into other careers. Sreeja Akula has pursued a Bachelor's in Commerce. She trains at the Global Table Tennis Academy, Hyderabad, under the mentorship of coach Somnath Ghosh.

Having put in the long hours and the hard work for over 15 years now, the 25-year-old secured a place in the Top 50 ranks of the world players last month after winning her first World Team Table tournament at Corpus Christi (Texas), beating World No 32 American Lily Zhang. 

Akula was also crowned as the National Champion in Women's singles and doubles table tennis, having won them at the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships, held in April 2022. In the previous edition, she had lost to Manika Batra, securing the runner-up place in the national Women's singles.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Akula secured the gold medal in the mixed doubles event with Sharath Kamal. She was also the gold medalist in Women's Doubles and Women's Team events in Table tennis at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Indian number-one player is now undergoing rigorous training and also consulting a sports psychologist ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024.