India’s highest ranked Table Tennis player Sreeja Akula swept her Swedish counterpart Christina Kallberg under the carpet 4-0 as she cruised into the Round of 32. She is also the first Indian to win a WTT Contender Singles title and is a medal hope of India.
But it wasn’t an easy walk in the park for the 25-year-old Akula. The scoreline read 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 and the entire match was over in a jiffy. That the game took 30 minutes to finish speaks volumes about India’s dominance in this game.
Sweden’s Christina Kallberg tried her level best to stretch the game but eventually faltered at the hands of Sreeja Akula. The 2nd set was extremely pulsating and gripping but the Indian youngster kept her nerves and clinched off the set.
In the fourth set, Sreeja had a lead of 9-3 but just slipped in a few points but eventually bagged the set, 11-7 and exercised her dominant muscles in the game.
India have etched history as this is the first time that India has qualified for the team event. Sreeja Akula has received a huge shot in the arm as she prepares to face tougher opponents in the next few rounds.
Sreeja was in red-hot form in 2024 and has already won the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi in Texas in January 2024. She also had won the WTT Feeder Beirut II in March 2024 and the WTT Contender Lagos, where she defeated China’s Ding Yijie.
Harmeet Desai defeated Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan
2-time Commonwealth Games Gold medalist Harmeet Desai progressed to the Round of 64 after beating Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5). The 31-year-old will now be pitted against the host side’s Felix Lebrun and he will be a tough nut to crack.
Sharath Kamal crashes out of Men’s Singles event
Veteran table tennis player Sharath Kamal lost to Deni Kozul of Slovenia 2-4 and he crashed out of the Men’s Singles event. Despite having a 1-0 lead, he failed to capitalize on his chances and his sluggish back-hand strokes, caused his defeat.
He will now be playing in the Men’s Team event and the 7-time Commonwealth Gold-Medalist would be looking to exorcise the ghosts of his singles event.
Also read: Paris Olympics 2024: India Target 2nd Consecutive Medal As PR Sreejesh Bids Goodbye
