Sreeja Akula: Rising Star All Set For Olympic Debut in Paris 2024

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In a historic moment for Indian table tennis, both the men's and women's national teams have secured their spots in the Olympics for the first time ever. This achievement comes through the latest World team rankings, with the final list unveiled on Monday.

Out of the top 16 teams qualifying for the Paris Olympics, the Indian men's team holds the 15th position, while the women's team ranks 13th according to the recent International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings released this month.

The Indian men's and women's teams were unable to secure direct qualification to Paris during the Busan World Team Championships, where only the quarterfinalists earned spots. Both teams faced defeats in the pre-quarterfinals against South Korea and Chinese Taipei respectively.

Speaking about this historic qualification, Indian rising table tennis player Sreeja Akula spoke to MyKhel. She said, "Yes, actually we were already aware and knew well before the official announcement. After the World Championship, we already knew that we had qualified, but we were still very happy to hear the official announcement. This is the first time our team has qualified for the Paris Olympics, so it's a really exciting moment for us."

The 25-year-old two-time national champion Sreeja, now a member of the Indian women's team qualified for the Paris Games later this year, expressed, "I'm thrilled for myself, my team, and especially my coach. We've been putting in the work for 14 years and it feels like it's finally paid off. Yes, this was just the qualification round, but I am determined to give my best and perform well at the Olympics as well."

Sreeja, who defeated the world No. 2 in the Busan World Championships, said they weren't concerned about qualification in Busan: 'Not really. We went in with the mindset of giving our all. The match against China was tough, but we just wanted to play our hearts out and give it our best shot. During the game, we weren't really concerned about qualifying or winning or losing. We just wanted to give it our all and play our best. Yes, definitely, we aimed to qualify for the Olympics at the World Championship, but during the match, we just played our best, that's it."

Sreeja going through a purple patch

A month ago, Sreeja Akula won her maiden international title at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 in Texas, USA. She achieved her highest ranking and also defeated World no. 2 Wang Yidi at the Busan World Championships.

When asked whether she reached the best form of her life, she replied, "No, I don't think so. I've been playing well at the international level for the past two years, but this year I've had a particularly good start. I feel like these past two tournaments have been my best yet, especially since I was able to beat some top-ranked players. The Commonwealth Games was definitely a highlight for me.

"But I think these two tournaments were equally great because I beat some really high-ranked players consecutively, and it wasn't just one or two matches. In the last two tournaments, I beat several highly ranked players consecutively. So, I can confidently say that I was in great form."

VICTORY OVER CHINA IS POSSIBLE

In table tennis, the Chinese usually win easily, but this time, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula surprised everyone by beating the top Chinese players, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi, in the World Championship.

This gave India a 2-1 lead against China in the World Team Table Tennis Championships. Although China eventually won the match 3-2, it was a big shock for them. This isn't the first time Indian women have defeated the Chinese team; Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee did it in the Asian Games 2023 too.

Sreeja, the Commonwealth Games medalist, now believes that victory over China is possible "Yes, I feel like we're all making rapid progress. It's great to see Indian athletes performing so well on the global stage, in both the men's and women's categories. I believe Ayhika (Mukherjee) and Sutirtha (Mukherjee) have been exceptional in their performance, setting a new standard and proving that defeating China is achievable. It's possible for us to beat anyone now, and we have the confidence to do it. We just need to keep it up and work even harder to maintain this level of consistency.

"The Paris Olympics will be the debut for Sreeja Akula in the Olympics. 'It's my first Olympics, and it's going to be a real challenge. My goal is to give it my all and cause as many upsets as possible. For sure, my main aim is to win a medal at the Olympics. However, I don't want to stress myself out too much since it's my first time. I just want to go all out and give it my best shot," Sreeja signed off.