With her singles triumph, Sreeja is set to reach a career-high ranking of World No. 25, becoming the highest-ranked Indian, leapfrogging Manika Batra.
Sreeja Akula created history at the WTT Contender in Lagos on Sunday by becoming the first Indian to clinch a singles title at a Contender level. Impressively, she also won the women’s doubles title, becoming the first Indian to win two titles at the same event at this level of World Table Tennis events.
With her singles triumph, Sreeja is set to reach a career-high ranking of World No. 25, becoming the highest-ranked Indian, leapfrogging Manika Batra, who has been India’s top female paddler for the majority of the last few years. Sreeja had already once gone past Batra earlier this year.
It was also the first time that India won a men’s doubles title after the Surat duo of Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar beat local favourites Azeez Solanke and Olajide Omotayo 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8).
