"My relatives were like she is doing so well in academics then why do you want to put her in sports" - Sreeja Akula

Young Indian table tennis player Sreeja Akula has revealed the dilemma she faced at an early age while choosing between sports and studies.

Sreeja started following the sport at the age of 8 after watching her sister Ravali miss her classes, play table tennis and bring medals home. That was enough for a young Sreeja to take an interest in the game.

The 24-year-old started playing casually as her father, Praveen Kumar Akula, who himself played professional table tennis and wanted his children to play any particular sport at the school level.

Sreeja's sister did not consider playing TT as a career path because of the notion in their society that education should be a priority, and thus, she focused on her engineering degree.

However, in Sreeja's case, she won her first national ranking medal at the age of 11 in the cadet championship. It was more than enough to convince her parents to push her into the sport at higher levels without pondering much.

To support the young paddler's expenses in a bid to follow professional TT, her father switched his job from the government to the private sector. Praveen Kumar Akula earlier used to work at Oriental Insurance but for a hike in payment, he moved to IFFCO Tokio General Insurance.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Sreeja Akula shared about the moment when she was stuck selecting a career path in either the field of sports or academics.

She said:

"I was actually equally good in academics as well. I scored a 9.5 CGPA in 10th and 96% in 12th. My relatives were like ‘She is doing so well in academics then why do you want to put her in sports? She can take up CA or do something what she likes.’ But I wanted to always do something good for my country," said Sreeja Akula.

She added:

"Like I wanted to win some good medal when I used to see Sharath (Kamal) Bhaiya’s matches and I wanted to do something well. But until the junior category, I was winning medals in India and won a few medals internationally. But I wasn’t doing much great in the senior category. So I was also feeling, maybe they (relatives) are right that I am doing so well in academics. All this dilemma was going on."

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"Now after that nobody have any words to say" - Sreeja Akula

Sreeja Akula shot to prominence in 2022 beginning the year with her maiden Senior National Table Tennis Championship in the women's singles. She defeated Bengal team's Mouma Das, a five-time winner of the event, in the final by 8-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-8, and 11-6 to become the first woman from Telangana to win the tournament.

Four months later, the youngster paired with her idol and veteran paddler Sharath Kamal in the mixed doubles event of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The duo defeated the likes of England, Australia, Northern Ireland, and Malaysia (twice) to record India's first gold medal in mixed doubles in any CWG event.

On November 30, Sreeja Akula was one of the 25 sportspersons to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award from the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

While reacting to her relatives' response after tremendous success at a young age, Sreeja Akula said:

"Now after that nobody have any words to say. But at the same time, my family supported me very well at that point of time. My grandparents, my parents and my relatives also saw me working hard. So my parents were like she is working very hard and she is very dedicated, so we will encourage whatever she wants to do. My sister and my coach (Somnath Ghosh) supported me a lot."

Sreeja's main aim for the next year is to improve her world rankings in the women's singles, which is currently 76 as of December 2022. She has set her eye on the World Table Tennis Championships scheduled to take place in South Africa in May 2023.