"WTT Star Contender Goa 2024 was a game-changer for me" - Sreeja Akula after attaining career-best ranking 

Young Indian paddler Sreeja Akula impressed last month to announce herself as a frontrunner for one of the two quotas in women's singles for the Paris Olympics, slated for the July-August window later this year.

Following her title triumph at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi, the Telangana paddler made it to the quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender Goa 2024. Ahead of the latter tournament, Sreeja had mentioned that she wanted to make some upsets in front of the home crowd.

She lived up to her own expectations as the Commonwealth Games medallist defeated two players in the top 40 - Egypt's prodigy Hana Goda (Round of 32) and Hong Kong's World No. 33 Doo Hoi Kem (Round of 16) - to jump 15 spots up to secure a career-best ITTF ranking of 51.

The prestigious tournament not only recorded historic Indian participation for a WTT event, with 43 Indians competing, but also bolstered their qualification chances for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games as they racked up some solid wins.

"WTT Star Contender Goa 2024 was a game-changer for me, it came at the right time and everything went well for me considering this is an Olympics year. I thank the organisers, my coach, physio and fans for their support," Sreeja was quoted as saying in a release issued by the organisers.

"Playing in the home country is always a good feeling because we are used to playing in this environment and climatic conditions. It takes time to adapt to the conditions when you play in other countries. Thus, it was good for Indian players to play in India. This performance will also boost my confidence going forward,” she further commented.

France's teenage sensation Felix Lebrun, who is ranked World No. 6, won the men's singles title at the WTT Star Contender Goa 2024, while Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Cheng I-ching of Chinese Taipei bagged the women's singles title.

Indians who impressed in WTT Star Contender Goa 2024

Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale made it to the quarterfinals of women's doubles, while Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah finished at the same stage in men's doubles. Two Indian pairs - Manav and Archana Kamath, and Manush and Diya - reached the last-eight in the mixed doubles event.

Regarding Indian players' overall performance, tournament director and Co-founder of Stupa Analytics Deepak Malik was quoted as saying in the same press release:

"We are thrilled to successfully organise yet another edition of the WTT Star Contender Goa. This year’s tournament was more important for our Indian players considering the upcoming Paris Olympics and I was delighted to see players like Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra taking advantage of the home support and collecting crucial ranking points.

"I thank the honourable Union Sports Minister Shri Anurag Singh Thakur Ji, Union Sports Ministry, Honourable CM of Goa Shri Pramod Sawant Ji, Government of Goa and all the stakeholders for their constant support in making this edition a grand success."

The WTT Star Contender Goa is India’s biggest international table tennis tournament co-hosted by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis under the guidance of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

The Indian paddlers will now shift their focus on the World Team Table Tennis Championships, scheduled to be held from February 16 to 25 in Busan, South Korea. The Olympic quotas for men and women teams will be up for grabs.

India has never managed to qualify for team events in either category at the quadrennial event and this will be the best opportunity for their paddlers to break the shackles.