"Sreeja Akula has got ice in her veins"- Fans react ecstatically to Sreeja Akula qualifying for round of 32 after emphatic win in Paris
Sreeja Akula has got off to a flying start in her maiden appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The paddler defeated Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 11-4,11-9, 11-7 and 11-8 in the round of 64 in the women’s singles.
The paddler started off in great fashion with an easy win in the first set. The second and third set were sightly closer with Christina pushing the Indian. The third set stood at 7-5 at one point, but Akula found her footing again to close the set.
Sreeja was miles ahead in the final set with a 9-3 lead. However, some unforced error on her part saw the Swedish paddler bring it to 9-7. But India’s number one ranked paddler asserted her dominance and closed the round 11-8, registering a 4-0 whitewash.
Sreeja never appeared to be in any trouble during the entirety of the match as the rising star registered an excellent win. Indian fans were exuberant on social media and reacted with much pride to her performance.
"Sreeja Akula has got ICE IN HER VEINS. Killin it" a user wrote.
Another user termed her performance as "PURE DOMINANCE"
"Absolutely brilliant performance by sreeja akula focused and skills. 4-0 set win many congratulations" wrote a fan on X.
Sreeja Akula sets the tempo for India's table tennis contingent
With this performance, Sreeja has definitely risen the hopes among the rest of India’s table tennis contingent. Her comprehensive victory would instil a lot of confidence among the Indian supporters as well as her teammates.
Her victory was followed by another good news for Indian TT fans. India's star player Manika Batra also registered a comprehensive victory in her round of 64 match against Anna Hursey of Great Britain. However, in a shocking upset, ace paddler Sharath Kamal crashed out of the Games. He lost lost 2-4 to Deni Kozul of Slovenia in his round of 64 match.
Sreeja Akula will now face Singapore's Zeng Jian in the Women's Singles Round of 32 on July 29.