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Indian table tennis champion Sreeja Akula has rocketed to the top 50 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) women’s singles rankings. She has attained her career-best world ranking of 50, thanks to her remarkable performances in her previous two tournaments.
In the last week of January 2024, Sreeja bagged her previous career-best ranking of 51. And now, she has made it to the top 50 for the first time in her career. Earlier in January, the paddler secured her maiden international title at WTT Feeder Corpus Christi after defeating USA's Lily Zhang, a three-time Olympian, 3-0 (11-6, 18-17, 11-5) in the final.
The WTT Feeder Series serves as a lower-tier table tennis tournament, providing a platform for the lower-ranked and grassroots players to regularly compete on the international stage.
Later in January, she continued her winning streak, clinching the quarterfinal finish at WTT Star Contender Goa. Her campaign ended against China's Cheng I-Ching, who beat her 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 6-11, 4-11). Cheng ultimately went on to win the competition.
Sreeja aims for team quota at the Paris 2024 Olympics
The aforementioned two performances propelled the ace paddler to surge up from the 94th spot to the 50th rank. Notably, Sreeja is the second Indian paddler to enter the top 50 rankings after Manika Batra, who is at the 37th rank currently.
With the ITTF World Team Championships starting next week, Sreeja would be eyeing to make it big and stay in red-hot form ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Good performance in the upcoming Championships next week will offer a team quota for the Paris Olympics.
Born in Hyderabad, Telangana, in 1998, Sreeja has earned a lot of accolades in her career so far. She was the gold medalist in women's doubles and team events at the 2019 South Asian Games. Furthermore, she bagged a gold medal in mixed doubles with Sharath Kamal in the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Sreeja Akula's rapid rise in the world rankings further enhances India’s growing prominence in international table tennis. Moreover, her performances are poised to inspire aspiring players across the nation.
