Sreeja Akula wins maiden international table tennis title at WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024
Sreeja Akula won the women’s singles event after defeating two higher-ranked players, including a three-time Olympian in the final.
Table Tennis
Indian table tennis player Sreeja Akula won her maiden international title after securing top podium in the women’s singles event at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 in Texas, USA on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Indian defeated world No. 46 Lily Zhang of the USA, a three-time Olympian, 3-0 (11-6, 18-16, 11-5) in the final, which lasted just over 30 minutes.
“I am immensely pleased, and my efforts got me where I wanted to be,” said Sreeja, one half of the reigning Commonwealth Games champions in mixed doubles. “It’s my maiden international title, and I have earned it after two close calls in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the tournament.
“Both (Amy Wang and Lily) were higher-ranked players and I played well against them,” the Indian pointed out.
Sreeja Akula, a two-time national champion, is ranked 94th in women’s singles. In the semi-finals, the Indian table tennis player beat Jiangshan Guo of the USA 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9).
In the quarters, Sreeja beat top seed Amy Wang of the USA, ranked 37th, with a 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 6-11, 11-9) scoreline.
Earlier in the tournament, Sreeja beat world No. 122 Stephanie Ouellette of France 3-0 in the round of 16 and Yao Tang of the USA 3-0 in the round of 32.
Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai, who bowed out in the men’s singles semis and quarters, respectively, were the other Indians who competed at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024.
The WTT Feeder Series is a lower-tier table tennis tournament that allows lower-ranked and grassroots players to compete on the international stage regularly. It sits below the Contender, Champions, Grand Smashes and Cup Finals events but is rated above the Youth Series.