Sreeja Akula creates history by winning WTT Contender singles title

Sreeja Akula of Hyderabad became the first Indian table tennis player to win a WTT (World Table Tennis) Contender single title. Sreeja Akula won both the women’s singles and doubles titles at the WTT Contender Lagos 2024 event. 

The USD 80,000 prize money WTT Contender Lagos 2024 was held at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall in Lagos, Nigeria, from 19 June to 23 June 2024. 

First  Singles WTT Contender title for Sreeja Akula 

India’s number one ranked women's singles table tennis player, Sreeja Akula, defeated the 16-year-old Yijie Ding of China 4-1 (10-12,11-9,11-6,11-8,11-6) in the final of the WTT Contender Lagos 2024 held on 23 June 2024 to win her first WTT Contender title.

Sreeja Akula defeated fellow Indian Sutirtha Mukherjee in the semifinal to reach the finals of the WTT Contender Lagos 2024. 

Sreeja Akula has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and is a part of the Indian team of Archana Kamath, Manika Batra, Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar. Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal will lead the Indian team at the Olympics.

Winners of the  WTT Contender Lagos 2024

The Indian table tennis player had an excellent day at the WTT Contender Lagos 2024 tournament. They won the women's singles and doubles titles along with the men’s doubles titles.

World Table Tennis (WTT)

• In order to popularise professional table tennis around the world, the International Table Tennis Federation in 2019 created the World Table Tennis (WTT). 
• The WTT is responsible for organising tournaments for professional table tennis men’s and women’s events around the world to popularise the game.
• The WTT has divided its events into - WTT Series, WTT,Feeder Series and the WTT Youth series. 
• The highest ranked is the WTT Series event, where the top-ranked world’s men's and women 's players participate.. It is followed by the WTT Feeder Series, and at the bottom is the WTT Youth series.
• Within the WTT Series there are two categories of events on the basis of ranking.
• The top-ranked events include Grand Smashes, WTT finals and WTT Champions.
• The Contender series is a tier-two tournament within the WTT series. The Contentender series has been divided into WTT Star Contender and WTT Contender. WTT Star Contener is a higher-ranked event than the WTT Contender.
• The WTT Feeder Series are for promising young players to develop and refine their skills and compete globally before progressing into the top tier of the sport. 
• The WTT Youth series for junior and promising table tennis players.