Sreeja Akula becomes India's top-ranked paddler overtaking World No. 29 Manika Batra

Young Indian paddler Sreeja Akula regained her India No. 1 position in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings, jumping 19 places to reach a career-high world ranking of 24.

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Fresh from her women’s singles victory at the World Table Tennis Contender in Lagos on Sunday, Sreeja Akula overtook World No. 29 Manika Batra from the top spot for the second time since April this year.

First Indian to win WTT Contender singles title

Sreeja Akula became the first Indian table tennis player to win a WTT Contender singles title after defeating China's Ding Yijie in the final. The Hyderabadi also won the women’s doubles title, becoming the first Indian to win two titles at the same event at this level of World Table Tennis events.

Sreeja to play two tournament before Paris

The title win will boost her performance as all four – Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar are in the Indian team for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024.

Sreeja will play two tournaments in Tunisia and Bangkok before embarking on a 10-day training trip to Germany ahead of the prestigious Paris Games.

It’s the first time India have qualified for the men and women’s team events at the Olympics and this WTT tournament was part of their preparation camp under recently-appointed head coach Massimo Costantini.

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Sharath Kamal remained India's No. 1

Achanta Sharath Kamal remained India's No. 1 player at 40. In men's doubles, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah went down to the world ranking of 13, but they remained India's No.1 men's doubles combination.

In women's doubles, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee are India's highest-ranked women's doubles combo at 16th. In mixed doubles, Diya Chitale and Manush Shah are the top-ranked pair at the world ranking of 24.