Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Sreeja Akula outplayed the Singaporean paddler Zeng Jian in the women’s singles round of 32 table tennis match at the Paris 2024 Olympics and joined compatriot Manika Batra in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals. Sreeja, India’s top-ranked singles player, registered a 4-2 (9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10) win in 51 minutes at the South Paris Arena on July 31.
Sreeja became only the second Indian table tennis singles player to make the round of 16 at the Olympics. She will face top seed Sun Yingsha in the round of 16 match.
The Indian paddler, who is celebrating her 26th birthday, lost the opening game but she quickly regrouped herself and took the next three games. While Zeng bounced back to win the fifth, Akula held her nerve to seal the match in the sixth game.
