Paris Olympian Sreeja Akula storms into Lagos semifinals after two big wins

Hyderabad’s Sreeja Akula advanced to the WTT Contender Lagos semifinals after two commanding wins on Friday. Meanwhile, G. Sathiyan and Akash Pal reached the men’s doubles final, while Pal and Poymantee Baisya finished runners-up in mixed doubles.

HYDERABAD: Paris Olympian Sreeja Akula from Hyderabad continued her impressive run, following up her stunning victory over top seed Hina Hayata with back-to-back victories to seal a place in the semifinals of the WTT Contender Lagos on Friday.

The 26-year-old started the day by defeating Italian Debora Vivarelli 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-1 to seal a place in the quarterfinals. She backed the performance up by comprehensively defeating Portugal’s Jieni Shao 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 to qualify for the penultimate round of the tournament.

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Akula will take on either Prithika Pavade of France or Portugal’s Fu Yu in the semifinal.

India’s G Sathiyan and Akash Pal reach the finals of the men’s doubles event. They will face France’s Leo de Nodrest and Jules Rolland in the final.

Both Pal and Sathiyan fell to the two Frenchmen in the men’s singles events as well. Pal was defeated 12-10, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 by de Nodrest, while Sathiyan lost 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to Rolland.

In mixed doubles, Pal and Poymantee Baisya ended their campaign as runner-up after losing to Rolland and Pavade 1-3 in the final.