Nigeria, June 24 (UNI) Indian table tennis star Sreeja Akula made history by clinching both the women’s singles and doubles titles at the WTT Contender Lagos 2024, held at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall here on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Akula, a member of India’s table tennis contingent for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, triumphed over China’s 16-year-old Yijie Ding with a commanding 4-1 victory (10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6) in the singles final.
This win marked a significant milestone for Indian table tennis, as Akula became the first player from the country to secure a WTT Contender singles title. In the semifinals, Akula had earlier defeated her compatriot and Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee in a closely contested match, prevailing 3-2 (11-8, 13-15, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10).