Paddler Sreeja Akula counts her 2024 winnings

A 12 months on, Akula is trying again at a season the place she competed past expectations. She gained three tour occasions, together with a WTT Contender title – the primary Indian to attain that. She beat China’s then world No.2 Wang Yidi on the Workforce World Championships, and was part of the Indian ladies’s workforce that medalled on the Asian Championships for the primary time, claiming bronze. Alongside the way in which, she turned solely the second Indian to achieve the spherical of 16 in singles on the Paris Olympics.

To prime all of it, she reached a profession excessive of 21 – the all-time rating achieved by an Indian in singles.

“This time final 12 months I used to be very sad with my efficiency,” she advised HT. “I used to be reaching the principle draw, however successful a match there was proving too troublesome. There was numerous frustration.

“However this 12 months was the very best for me.”

After the struggles of 2023, the 26-year-old from Hyderabad began to make a lot of adjustments to her recreation. Bodily, there was extra deal with energy and conditioning. Technically although, she needed to discover a option to break free from “stagnating”.

“I needed to turn into extra constant,” she mentioned. “On my forehand, I began so as to add extra variations, altering the spin with every shot. I additionally began to focus extra on placement moderately than hitting with energy.”

The choice was additionally made to take a measured step again to try to obtain higher strides ahead.

The Indian federation, she mentioned, was sponsoring gamers to compete on the WTT Contender occasion in Doha at the beginning of the 12 months. Akula and her coach Somnath Ghosh, nonetheless, determined to as a substitute play at a rung decrease, within the Feeder circuit. She opted to play on the Corpus Christi Feeder occasion in Texas.

From struggling to win a most important draw match the earlier 12 months, Akula began 2024 by successful the title.

“I went with an open thoughts and with none expectations of myself,” mentioned Akula, now ranked 23. “We thought I ought to go for the Feeder occasion to try to get some confidence and momentum. That proved to be an enormous win for me.”

In March, she gained one other Feeder occasion, in Beirut, and began to develop in confidence to the purpose that she went on to win the Contender occasion in Lagos in June.

The win had come at a great time for her, particularly with the 2024 Paris Olympics across the nook. However she additionally began to battle with a groin harm.

Akula took a bit day without work to work on the pressure whereas making ready for the Olympics, however ended up travelling to Paris with the niggle that later proved to be a lot sinister in nature.

“I bought an MRI completed on the Olympics village and bought to realize it was a stress fracture,” she recalled.

Akula returned residence from the Olympics with the excessive of a commendable efficiency and a brand new profession excessive rank. However with strict orders to relaxation for six weeks.

The return was gradual and Akula was a bit tentative on the desk, lacking the match sharpness she loved earlier than the harm. However she was ready to take it in her stride.

“The primary factor for me was that I bought to play on the Olympics, so in a means the harm got here on the proper time,” she mentioned. “I wished to take it in a constructive means.

“I performed a couple of occasions on the finish of the 12 months however the outcomes weren’t nice. I anticipated that although, as a result of I wasn’t absolutely match.”

However now she is.

The 12 months passed by has made an enormous distinction in her profession. Now, she is able to storm into the brand new season.