Sreeja Akula (born 31 July 1998) is an Indian

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player. She is a two-time Indian national champion. She is currently ranked India number one in women's singles. Akula received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 2022. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, Akula won the gold medal in the

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

event with

Sharath Kamal Achanta Sharath Kamal (born 12 July 1982) is an Indian former table tennis player. He is a ten time national champion. In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award. In 2022, he was awarded the Khel Ratna Award, ...

. 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.

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. Ravali played at the university level. Sreeja trained under coach Somnath Ghosh, at his academy at

Kukatpally Kukatpally is a suburb in northwestern Hyderabad in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of Balanagar Prashu Singh mandal in the Malkajgiri revenue division of the Medchal–Malkajgiri district. Kukatpally was a municipality be ...

, 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, 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.

Career

Akula was the gold medalist in Women's Doubles and Women's Team events in

Table tennis at the 2019 South Asian Games Table may refer to: * Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...

. 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. She was the runner-up in national Women's singles in the previous edition, losing to

Manika Batra Manika Batra (born 15 June 1995) 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 Asi ...

. She was also a part of the Indian team at the

where she won gold medal in

event with

. In January 2024, Sreeja won her maiden WTT singles career title at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi in Texas. 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 Sarah De Nutte (born 21 November 1992) is a professional Luxembourgish table tennis player and the most successful Luxembourgish table tennis player so far. She competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics and won the women's doubles bronze medal at the ...

3-1 (6–11, 12–10, 11–5, 11–9) in the final. 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.

Singles Titles

Awards

Akula received the Arjuna Award in 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akula, Sreeja 1998 births Living people Indian female table tennis players Racket sportspeople from Hyderabad, India Sportswomen from Telangana Table tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for India Table tennis players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in table tennis Table tennis players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games table tennis players for India South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in table tennis Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games