Sreeja Akula clinches WTT Feeder Beirut II women's singles title
Sreeja defeated Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg 6-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9 in 33 minutes to clinch her second international title. In January, she won the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi title.
FILE PHOTO: Sreeja Akula won the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi title in Texas, USA in January 2024.
World no. 47 Sreeja Akula clinched the WTT Feeder Beirut II women's singles title as she defeated Sarah De Nutte in the final at the Al Kawthar Secondary School in Lebanon on Sunday night.
Sreeja, dominating the match from the get-go, clinched her second international title after she rallied back from losing the opening game to win the contest 3-1 (6-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9) in 33 minutes.
In January this year, Sreeja won her maiden title when she bagged the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi women's singles title in Texas, USA.
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad had then defeated world no. 46 Lily Zhang of the USA, a three-time Olympian, 3-0 (11-6, 18-16, 11-5) in the final, which lasted just over 30 minutes.
In the run-up to winning her second international crown in Lebanon, Sreeja eased past Daniela Fonseca of Cuba in the Round of 32 with a comfortable 3-0 win before taking down fellow Indian paddler Archana Kamath 3-1.
In the quarterfinal, up against Chinese Taipei's world no. 63 Liu Hsing-Yin, Sreeja dealt with the toughest match of the tournament, with the Indian making a brisk start to claim the opening game before losing the next two to let go of the lead. Sreeja then displayed her gritty game by bringing out her best to clinch the next two games by huge margins. Sreeja had won the match 11-4, 3-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6.
In the semifinal, she toyed with world no. 36 Suh Hyo Won in a 3-1 win to reach the final.
Sreeja, who was also in contention for a women's doubles title along with Diya Chitale, lost 3-1 (4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6) to Hong Kong China’s Doo Hoi Kem and Zhu Chengzhu in the final earlier on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Poymantee Baisya and Akash Pal stunned India's star paddlers Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra to win the mixed doubles title. Baisya-Pal defeated Sathiyan-Batra 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-0) in the final.
In the men's doubles final, which was an all-Indian clash, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar emerged victorious against compatriots Mudit Dani and Akash Pal 3-1 (11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6) in the final.