National champion Akula focusing on all-round development ahead of CWG 22

For Akula, it has been a long journey from her days at the Global Table Tennis Academy where she learned the basics under coach Somnath Ghosh.

Published : Jul 16, 2022 19:14 IST , HYDERABAD

Coach Somnath Ghosh with his trainee and national women’s singles
table tennis champion Sreeja Akula.
Coach Somnath Ghosh with his trainee and national women’s singles table tennis champion Sreeja Akula. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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Coach Somnath Ghosh with his trainee and national women’s singles table tennis champion Sreeja Akula. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

At 24, paddler Sreeja Akula has come a long way from training as a kid in the one-room, two-table Global Table Tennis Academy here where she picked the basics under her mentor and coach Somnath Ghosh.

Now, Sreeja is one of the medal hopes for India in the 2022 Commonwealth Games championship to be held in Birmingham this month-end.

Far away from the madding crowd, the soft-spoken India No.1 in women’s singles, Sreeja, had a quiet two-day training session with India’s biggest name in the men’s circuit - A. Sharath Kamal. The two will be playing in mixed doubles.

“Well, she is playing well and I am confident of a very good show,” was what Sharath told Sreeja’s coach Somnath Ghosh.

Interestingly, after returning from Portugal where the CWG squad went for training-cum-exposure early this month, Sreeja has been training under her first coach and mentor Somnath at the Somnath Ghosh UTT Table Tennis Academy (Kukatpally) here.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the sparring partners in Portugal we were looking for. And in the one tournament, I played in Hungary and I am not happy with my show,” Sreeja informed  Sportstar.

“I am excited at playing in my maiden CWG and also a bit nervous too. Experiencing some sort of self-inflicted pressure for some reason. But confident of putting up a good show,” she said.

“The focus has been on all-round improvement. And, now with Somnath Sir here, I am trying to be consistent with my topspin forehand which is my strong-point along with my backhand which I execute with pimple rubber,” she explained.

“I think not playing with many of those who will be there for the CWG is also an advantage for me as the opponents may not be sure about my backhand,” Sreeja said.

“I will be playing in women’s doubles too with Reeth Rishiya besides the singles and mixed event with Sharath Anna. It is a great honour to play with someone like him,” she said. “Honestly, the more matches, the more I will enjoy it,” she said with a big smile.

The Assistant Manager in Reserve Bank of India is grateful to Dream Sports Foundation, United Way, 11 Sports, Control S Raheja for helping her in a big way and also to Telangana Sports Minister V. Srinivas Goud and the Telangana IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao.

“Definitely, winning the Senior national championship women’s singles title early this year can well be the turning point of my career. It was an unforgettable moment,” she said.

For his part, Somnath the emphasis in the last few days will be on speed, footwork and fitness. “She has the game and it is only a question of everything falling in place on the given day and we are confident of Sreeja winning a medal,” he said reminding that she trained with some national players of quality like Fidel R. Snehit Raj Mandal, Sourav Saha and Arjun Ghosh at the Academy to prepare for the CWG.

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