Sreeja Akula becomes highest ranked Indian Table Tennis player in world
Person in News
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Indian women's table tennis player Sreeja Akula became the highest-ranked Indian player in the world after her strong performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the latest ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation, she is ranked World No.22 in the women's singles.
Her previous best was the world no. 24 rank achieved after her victory in the WTT Contender Lagos in June.
She broke the record of Manika Batra, who achieved her career-best World No. 24 rank in the singles event.
Only two Indian table tennis players, Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra, have ever reached the top 25 world rankings in the singles event.
Performance in the Paris Olympics
Before the Paris Olympics, Sreeja Akula was ranked world no. 25. During the Paris Olympics, Akula and Manika Batra became the first Indian players to reach the round of 16 at the Olympics in individual events.
Akula lost to World No.1 Chinese player Yingsha Sun in the round of 16.
Manika Batra also improved her rank to 25th in the world. In the round of 16, she lost to Japanese player Miu Hirano 4-1.
The India women's table tennis team of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath is still in the medal hunt. They defeated the European Games champion Romania to reach the quarterfinal. They will take on Germany in the quarterfinal match on 7 August 2024.
This is the first time that any Indian team has reached the quarterfinal in the table tennis team event at the Olympics.
Sharath Kamal, who was India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, lost his opening match in the Paris Olympics. He is the highest-ranked Indian men’s table tennis player at 41st. Manav Thakkar is the next best Indian men’s singles player at world No. 59, followed by Sathiyan Gnanasearan at 64th. Harmeet Desai is 87th.
International Table Tennis Federation
The International Table Tennis Federation is the world governing body of men's and women's table tennis.
Founded: 1926
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
President: Petra Sorlling
