WTT Champions: Sreeja Akula lone Indian standing in Yokohama

Sreeja Akula was left the lone Indian standing at the 2026 WTT Champions Yokohama in Japan as Manika Batra, Manav Thakkar, and Manush Shah all suffered first round exits.

Akula registered her career's first win in a Champions event, beating Sofia Polcanova of Australia 3-2 in the first round.

The Indian paddler lost her opening game 9-11 but fought back to win the next three 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 to register a come-from-behind victory in just over 32 minutes.

Later, wildcard entrant Batra lost out 1-11, 7-11, 7-11 with barely any fight against the second seeded Kuai Man of China.

In men's singles, Shah and Thakkar also faced similar fate.

While Thakkar went down 2-3 after a hard fought battle against Slovakia's Darko Jorgic, Shah was blanked 3-0 by France's sixth seeded Alexis Lebrun, leaving Akula the lone Indian standing in the prestigious tournament.

Akula will next face the seventh seeded Shin Yubin of South Korea in the women's singles round of 16 on Friday.