2 days ago
Sreeja finds a purple patch in Jaipur's pink
Almost a year ago, Sreeja Akula was flying high.
While achieving a rare feat of an Indian paddler featuring in the singles round-of-16 at the Olympics (she and Manika Batra both made it to the women's singles pre-quarterfinals at Paris 2024), Sreeja was also on the brink of breaking into the top-20 world rankings.
But soon after returning from Paris, Sreeja was diagnosed with a stress fracture that took longer than expected to heal. Since then, she hasn't been as dynamic on the world stage as she was in the 12 months leading to the Olympics.
But the diminutive girl from Hyderabad has revelled in the pink jersey of Jaipur Patriots in the Ultimate Table Tennis. After missing the fifth season due to the stress fracture, Sreeja has remained unbeaten in season six – Zeng Jian of Goa Challengers is the only other unbeaten singles player this season – to spearhead Patriots' smooth ride into the semifinals.
Sreeja Akula keeps her red-hot streak alive to cap off a MASSIVE night for the Jaipur Patriots 🔥♨️
📺 Live on JioHotstar and the Star Sports network.
🎫 Tickets on — Ultimate Table Tennis (@UltTableTennis) June 11, 2025
'UTT has definitely helped because I have played different opponents and mixed doubles as well,' Sreeja told The Hindu. 'I have also been doing my fitness, continuing my routine every day. But I also wanted to play a number of matches, and this league is a very good stage where I can try different things and contribute to my team.'
Sreeja in singles at UTT season six
bt Maria Xiao (Dabang Delhi) 2-1; bt Poymantee Baisya (Chennai Lions) 3-0; bt Bernadette Szocs (U Mumba) 2-1; bt Ayhika Mukherjee (Jaipur Patriots) 2-1; bt Zion Lee (Pune Jaguars) 2-1.
While Patriots – who had a forgettable UTT debut last season without Sreeja – started on a disastrous note, Sreeja was the only bright spot in their campaign-opener against Dabang Delhi TTC. Groomed in confidence with a close win against left-handed Maria Xiao, Sreeja went on to account for Bernadette Szocs, the World No. 12.
Sreeja is confident that the three weeks at UTT will help her in her future endeavours, starting with the US Open next month and heading into three major Smash events on the world circuit.
'It took some time for me to recover, it's all about ups and downs, and I just have to accept it and take the learnings from those matches and move on. I have tried to figure out what went wrong, and I am getting back to my best. I am confident that I will be in the zone pretty soon'.
