Akula Sreeja, the new queen of Indian table tennis

Hyderabad: It has been close to six decades that a Hyderabad table tennis player emerged national champion. It was Mir Khasim Ali who first won a national title in 1964. And ever since, he was the only one in the club. But on Monday, after a yawning gap of 58 years, another Hyderabadi emerged national […]

Hyderabad: It has been close to six decades that a Hyderabad table tennis player emerged national champion. It was Mir Khasim Ali who first won a national title in 1964. And ever since, he was the only one in the club.

But on Monday, after a yawning gap of 58 years, another Hyderabadi emerged national champion. The 23-year-old Akula Sreeja defeated Mouma Das to bring home the women’s title. She also etched her name in the history as the only woman from both the Telugu speaking States to achieve the feat.

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The youngster is over the moon on her maiden title. “I am delighted. I still can’t believe I won the national title. I didn’t expect to win. But I did work hard for this,” said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) player.

Having worked hard with coach Somnath Ghosh for over 10 years, Sreeja dedicated her victory to her coaches. “I want to dedicate this to my coaches Somnath Ghosh and fitness coach Hirak Bagchi. I have been training with Somnath sir for over 10 years and waiting for this moment.”

“This win is a big boost ahead of the Commonwealth Games. There are a few international tournaments lined up next and it gives me a lot of confidence. I also will be able to play many international tournaments now as I will be part of the Indian team. I want to focus on improving my international ranking,” she revealed.

Sreeja entered the tournament as India’s No.1 ranked player and dished out dominating performances. Speaking about the tournament, she said, “All the matches were tough. But I maintained focus. The semifinal clash (Ayhika Mukherjee) was the toughest.”

She also made the day more memorable by winning the doubles title with Ayhika Mukherjee. Speaking on the doubles gold, she said, “We didn’t practise much. She stays in Bengal and I stay in Hyderabad. But we had good discussions during the match and had a good bonding. That helped us do well in doubles as well.”

However, she said that victory was not a surprise. “We have won inter-institution doubles earlier. That gave us a huge confidence. We knew then that we had a good game and we knew each other’s game very well.”

Meanwhile, on his ward’s achievement, her coach Somnath Ghosh said, “Becoming a national champion is something else. This is the happiest day of my life. I have been waiting for this for 10 years. We worked hard for this result.”

He also revealed that she played with different a rubber from the quarterfinal stage and that takes guts. “During the tournament, she came to me and said she would like to change the rubber. To do that during the national tournament requires a lot of courage,” he revealed.

He also thanked Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, K T Rama Rao, IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan, who brought him to coach the State players on deputation from South Central Railway, and Amarnath Reddy and Prakash Raju for their support.

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