Olympics 2024: Sreeja Akula goes down fighting against world number 1

Sreeja Akula suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of world no.1 Sun Yinghsa of China in the round of 16 women's singles match at the Paris Olympics, on Wednesday. 

With Sreeja's exit, all four Indian paddlers in the singles category (men and women) have been knocked out. 

So close, yet so far

The game started with Sreeja playing with a lot of energy and Sun Yingsha was backed to a corner after the early exchanges. 

Sreeja performed brilliantly and got herself into a 10-6 lead, with four game points but the world no.1 produced a stunning comeback, scoring six points on the trot and securing the first game from being four points down. 

But Sreeja did not put her head down. She managed to one-up her game in the second game and handed herself five-game points.

In what was yet another incredible comeback, Sun Yingsha scored seven consecutive points from being 5-10 down, and won the game 12-10, taking an unlikely 2-0 lead in the game. 

From there on, it was business as usual for Yingsha as she won the third game 11-8 before completely blowing Sreeja out of the water in game four, winning 11-3. 

Earlier in the day, Sreeja Akula celebrated her birthday by becoming the second Indian paddler after Manika Batra to qualify for the round of 16 event at the Olympics in table tennis. 

With the singles action now concluded for the Indian contingent, the team events offer another opportunity to make a mark in the Paris Olympics.