World Table Tennis: Sreeja advances to quarterfinals

Hyderabad paddler Akula Sreeja registered a commanding victory to move into the women's singles quarterfinals of the ongoing World Table Tennis

Hyderabad: Hyderabad paddler Akula Sreeja registered a commanding victory to move into the women’s singles quarterfinals of the ongoing World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Goa on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Sreeja began the contest on a positive note against higher ranked Hong Kong opponent Doo Hoi Kem (WR 36) and won the thrilling first game before losing the second. However, the world No. 66 Indian looked in complete control of the next two games and clinched the match 3-1 (12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) to reach the quarterfinals.

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On the other hand, India’s top-ranked singles paddler Batra (WR 38) went down 1-3 (11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 9-11) to the world No. 13 Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco despite winning the first game of the contest. In the other women’s singles pre-quarterfinal, youngster from Bengaluru Kamath lost to South Korea’s Jeon Jihee by 1-3 (11-13, 11-9, 6-11, 4-11).

World No. 8 Shin Yubin of South Korea continued her positive form to defeat Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6), whereas Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-ching (WR 18) beat Yang Ha Eun of South Korea by 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-9).

In the last-16 stage of the men’s singles category, world No. 8 Felix Lebrun of France extended his sparkling form to register a comfortable 3-0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-9) win against Sweden’s Ruls Moregard. However, his brother Alexis Lebrun faced a 1-3 (8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 8-11) defeat against world No. 14 Quadri Aruna of Nigeria.

Six-time Olympic medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany looked in fine form to beat England’s Liam Pitchford 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 17-15, 11-8) as he made his way into the quarter-finals of WTT Star Contender Goa 2024.