Sreeja Akula reaches career-high World No. 24 ranking, overtakes Manika Batra after singles and doubles crown at Lagos
Fresh from her women’s singles victory at the World Table Tennis Contender in Lagos on Sunday, India’s Sreeja Akula jumped 19 places to reach a career-high ranking of World No. 24.
The 25-year-old leapfrogged Manika Batra, who has slipped down to World No. 29 in the last rankings released on Monday.
Sreeja had created history in Lagos by becoming the first Indian to clinch a singles title at a Contender level. Impressively, the Hyderabadi also won the women’s doubles title, becoming the first Indian to win two titles at the same event at this level of World Table Tennis events.
In the singles final, Sreeja faced a tricky opponent in Ding Yijie, a 16-year-old Chinese star-in-the-making who is ranked outside the top 500. Sreeja fought back from a game down to absolutely dominate the matc...