Sreeja living her family’s dream

Bengaluru: Every rising young athlete wishes for that breakout year where they can deliver some statement performances and climb the ladder of success. Talented table tennis player Sreeja Akula has done that in the first quarter so far, and the 25-year-old is determined to cash in on her bull-run and take her game to the next level.

It all started in January when Hyderabadi Sreeja, a two-time senior national champion in singles, bagged her maiden international title at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi event in Texas where she defeated World No. 46 Lily Zhang of the US in straight games.

Then came her breakthrough moment — perhaps bigger than her title triumph in the United States — when she shocked the table tennis fraternity by upsetting World No. 2 Wang Yidi of China in straight games at the World Table Tennis Team Championship group phase game in Busan, South Korea.   

“Ever since I began to improving as a table tennis player, my dream was to beat a Chinese,” a delighted Sreeja told DH. 

“We all know they have some of the best players in the world and they dominate the sport. Playing Wang was a dream and I just wanted to give it my all. But when I ended up beating her, that too so convincingly, I just couldn’t believe it. It indeed is the moment that has galvanised my dreams, hopes and aspirations. That win gave me the belief that I can compete and succeed at the highest level.”

Taking plenty of confidence from the win over Wang, Sreeja clinched her second international title last weekend when she bested Sarah D Nutte of Luxembourg in the final of the WTT Feeder Beirut II in Lebanon. The win obviously elevated Sreeja in world rankings, the Indian rising to a career-high 40 and now just two rungs below star paddler Manika Batra.

Picking up a table tennis racquet came easily for Sreeja. Her father Praveen Kumar, who works with IFCO Tokyo General Insurance, used to play the sport as a kid at club level but owing to financial constraints had to sacrifice his sporting ambitions.

Praveen then wanted to live his dream though his elder daughter Ravali Akula but the similar economic limitations that bogged him as player, came to haunt him as a father. So Ravali, after some early promise, switched to the safer option of engineering.

Then, out of nowhere, came Sreeja. She just got enrolled at Ghosh academy for the sake of it but much to her surprise she started performing well. After a few years of training, she began to win age group events in the state. But as she started to show promise, Praveen was hit with the same financial dilemma.

“I had no ambition of fulfilling my father’s dream when I started off. But somehow table tennis and I formed a great alliance. However, just when I was doing well, my father didn’t know what to do as to survive in table tennis, one needs more money than you would spend on education. So my father almost wanted me to quit but my sister is the one who motivated me to pursue table tennis.

“She convinced my father to give wings to my dreams. I owe this all to my sister’s conviction and belief in me, and of course my dad who went out of his way to make all this a reality. Now, all I want to do is make them proud.”

Having already made the cut for Paris Olympics in the team event, Sreeja’s rise in singles also leaves her in pole position to take the two singles spots the country has for the quadrennial bash.

“The two title wins and the victory over World No. 2 shows that I’m definitely on the right path,” she said. “All the hard work of the last two years, especially under my longtime coach Somnath Ghosh, has paid dividends. This being the Olympic year, it was very very important for me. My main goal was to break into the top-50. Now that I’ve attained 40, the next target is 30. It’s going to be even more arduous but I really have strong self-belief now and willing to push the limits.

“Having said that, the main goal is to try and make an impact at the Paris Olympics. Table tennis has been undergoing a revolution in the country and it’ll be great if we can achieve something significant in Paris. The next 4-5 months are going to be extremely important in terms of preparations and Somnath sir and I will leave no stone unturned in our quest to achieve more success,” added Sreeja, who won the mixed doubles gold along with veteran Sharath Kamal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. 

Thanks to her brilliant performances, Sreeja and Somanth’s next trip will be to Chinese Taipei for a 12-day training stint under noted coach Liu Jun-Lin, sponsored by the Sports Ministry through its Mission Olympic Cell programme. “My focus there would be to work with top-class sparring partners which is not easily available here. The onus is also on sharpening my games which still needs a lot of refinement. I thank the Ministry for this.”