Sreeja Akula is a promising youngster in the Indian table tennis circuit. She will be making her debut at the prestigious Olympic event in Paris after being named in the three-member women’s contingent along with Manika Batra and Archana Kamath for the 33rd edition of the Summer Games. Sreeja will be participating in the women’s singles and women’s team events.

Sreeja Akula has become the best female table tennis player in India. (Photo: X)

New Delhi: Sreeja Akula is a promising youngster in the Indian table tennis circuit. She will be making her debut at the prestigious Olympic event in Paris after being named in the three-member women’s contingent along with Manika Batra and Archana Kamath for the 33rd edition of the Summer Games. Sreeja will be participating in the women’s singles and women’s team events.

Born in Hyderabad on 31st July 1998, Sreeja Akula was blessed with academics as she secured a 9.5 CGPA in her 10th class followed by 96% in her 12th class. Before she could fall into the category of a brilliant South Indian academic kid who pursued the path of a doctor or an engineer, Sreeja’s parents Praveen Kumar Akula and Sai Sudha supported her talent with the racket.

Sreeja watched her elder sister Ravali play table tennis during her college days. Her father Praveen played the sport in his youth but could not play it professionally. Though her sister did not take her game far, Sreeja took inspiration from her and paved a path for her to become India’s best paddler.

She won junior girls’ singles titles when she was just selected to play for the sub-junior category, joining former India player Somnath Ghosh at his academy in Hyderabad.

view more

The upward trajectory of Sreeja Akula’s career

Sreeja Akula shot to prominence with her maiden national women’s singles title, beating the stylish Manika Batra and veteran player Mouma Das in 2022.

That same year, she paired up with Sharath Kamal, the poster boy of Indian table tennis, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The duo won the gold medal in the mixed doubles, which was Sreeja’s first major achievement on the international stage. She was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Sports Ministry.

Sreeja peaked in 2024 with tremendous form and made a huge jump in her rankings. She started the year at 94th and jumped to her best ranking of 24th to not only secure her spot at the Paris Olympics but also dethrone Manika Batra as India’s highest-ranked female paddler in the ITTF rankings.

Sreeja won her maiden international singles title (WTT Feeder) in Chorpus Christi to start the year on a great note. She later stunned China’s World No.2 Wang Yidi at the World Teams’ Table Tennis Championships in South Korea. The 25-year-old became the first Indian to win a WTT Contender title after beating Ding Yijie 4-1 in the final in Lagos.

The reinvention of self-confidence and the fearless approach to compete against anyone, anywhere, anytime has propelled Sreeja’s rise to her first Olympic event. She loves to cause surprises, which has been a mantra for her success mode somewhere.