Sreeja Akula becomes first Indian to win WTT Contender singles title

LAGOS — Sreeja Akula has created history by becoming the first ever Indian paddler to win a WTT Contender Singles title as she beat Chinese player Ding Yijie 4-1in the final.

WR 38 Akula lost the first game against the rising Chinese younger with a scoreline of 10-12 but went on to sweep the next four games with 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 and 11-6 to cap off the victory.

Not only did she become the first ever Indian paddler to win a WTT Contender singles title, she also became the first ever Indian paddler to reach the finals of the contenders tournament with a win over compatriot Sutirtha Mukherjee in a closely fought encounter (3-2) on Saturday.

Akula and Archana Kamath also capped off their impressive run in the tournament with a dominant 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 12-10) victory over compatriots Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade to win the women’s doubles title earlier on Sunday.

Diya and Yashaswini had defeated China’s Sun Sinan and Ding 3-1 (14-12, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7) in their semi-final whereas the eventual champions had defeated another pair of compatriots in Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee

Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar also became the first Indian male combo to win at this level by defeating local favorites Azeez Solanke and Olajide Omotayo 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8) in the men’s doubles final.