In a triumphant start to the New Year, two-time National champion Sreeja Akula from Hyderabad secured her first international title by defeating world No. 46 Lily Zhang of the USA in a thrilling women's singles final at the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 on Thursday.

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The 25-year-old Indian, ranked 94th in the world, displayed exceptional skill and determination on her journey to the final. Sreeja Akula overcame challenges by defeating Stephanie Loeuillette 3-1 and causing a major upset by defeating top seed Amy Wang 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 6-11, 11-9) in a nail-biting quarterfinal.

In the highly anticipated final, Sreeja Akula took an early lead of 2-1 against Lily Zhang, but the world No. 37 fought back to level the score. However, Sreeja's strategic prowess shone in the decider as she secured the last few crucial points to claim victory with a final scoreline of 11-6, 18-16, 11-5.

The win not only marks a significant personal achievement for Sreeja Akula but also holds broader implications for the Indian Women's team's qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024 and it would also help her to qualify for the singles event. This will also be a major boost as she will next head to the WTT Star Contender Goa back home.

Reflecting on her achievement, Sreeja Akula expressed her joy, stating, "I am immensely pleased, and my efforts got me where I wanted to be. It's my maiden international title, and I have earned it after two close calls in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the tournament. Both (Amy and Lily) were higher-ranked players and played well against them,"

However, world No.102 Manav Thakkar lost to European champion Joao Monteiro in the men's singles semi-finals of the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024. Despite an early-game advantage, Manav couldn't get past the Portuguese international, going down 11-8, 8-11, 11-13, 9-11. Even though he came close in the contest but finished as the second best.

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Meanwhile, reigning national champion Harmeet Desai bowed out in the quarterfinals following his 1-3 defeat to Kazakhstan's Kirill Gerassimenko. Other Indian star players are currently playing in the WTT Contender Doha 2024.

Wherever Neeraj Chopra goes, he does not return empty-handed. This series started in 2016 when this rising star made a record for the first time at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships. From that day itself, we got a glimpse of the future to come, in which many records were to be made and broken one after the other.

On Friday night of 16 May, Neeraj maintained the same trend in Doha Diamond League 2025 and got his name registered in history, becoming the first Indian to breach the 90m mark in the sport. So, it's time we take a look at every Neeraj Chopra records that he has made in his tremendous career so far.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

Every Neeraj Chopra records you should know

• First Indian to breach the 90m mark: Neeraj Chopra’s best throw is 90.23m, achieved at the Doha Diamond League on May 16, 2025. The mark stands as the men’s national record in India and Neeraj Chopra’s personal best. It was the first time an Indian had breached the 90m-mark in the javelin.
• First Indian to win Olympic medal in athletics: At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Neeraj Chopra produced a historic performance in the men's javelin throw event. Neeraj won the gold medal in the final with a throw of 87.58m, giving India its first Olympic medal in athletics. With this win, Neeraj Chopra also became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track and field event at the Olympics.
• First Indian to win silver at World Athletics Championships: Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a historic silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. He recorded a throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt to claim the second spot. Chopra thus is the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships and only the second medallist from the country after Anju Bobby George in 2003.
• First Indian track and field athlete to win world championship: Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. With this win, the then 18-year-old Neeraj became the first Indian track and field athlete to become a world champion in any event and any age level.
• First Indian World Record holder in track & field: Neeraj Chopra Threw 86.48m at the junior championships in Poland to win the title. With this, he set the new under-20 world record, beating the 84.69m mark established by the previous holder, Latvia's Zigismunds Sirmais. Neeraj’s 86.48m attempt at Bydgoszcz still stands as both the U20 world record as well as the U20 Asian record in the javelin throw.
• Indian national javelin throw record holder: Neeraj Chopra’s best attempt to date came at the Stockholm Diamond League 2022 in Sweden on June 30, 2022, where he managed his personal best of 89.94m to establish the new national record.
• First Indian to win javelin throw gold at Asian Games: Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian javelin thrower to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. Before him, Gurtej Singh was the only men’s javelin thrower from the country to win a medal – bronze at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games. Neeraj threw  88.06m to claim the 2018 Asian Games title.
• First Indian to win a Diamond League meet: Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet after he topped the field in Lausanne in 2022. With a depleted field that had world champion Anderson Peters missing, the Indian comfortably led the charts with an 89.08m throw, in his first attempt. 
• First Indian to become Diamond League champion: Neeraj Chopra is the first Indian athlete in history to clinch the Diamond League trophy, by winning the Zurich Diamond League 2022 Final. The Indian ace recorded a best throw of 88.44m to beat Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and 2016 champion Jakub Vadlejch to the title.
• First Indian to become world champion: Neeraj Chopra became India's first world champion after he clinched the gold medal in the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest with an effort of 88.17m. It was Neeraj Chopra's second straight medal at the world championships after his silver at Oregon 2022.

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Neeraj Chopra Records: Best throws at major competitions

Indian javelin ace Neeraj Chopra bettered his throw of 89.94m with a season-best throw of 90.23m at the at the Doha Diamond League 2025. After this, he became the first Indian to breach the 90m mark in the sport.

Read Also: Every Neeraj Chopra Records You Should Know 

Despite the historic achievement, Chopra missed out on the top podium spot at the Doha Diamond League, where Germany’s Julian Weber stole the show with a massive throw. Chopra’s previous best was 89.94m, set on June 30, 2022, at the Stockholm Diamond League — a mark that stood as both his personal best and the men’s national record.

Neeraj achieved his target

• Neeraj Chopra’s best throw is 90.23m, achieved at the Doha Diamond League on May 16, 2025. The mark stands as the men’s national record in India and Neeraj Chopra’s personal best.
• The second-best throw of Neeraj Chopra's career is 89.94m. Neeraj had thrown this throw in the Stockholm Diamond League on 30 June 2022. This throw is a national record and one of Neeraj Chopra's best throws.
• Neeraj Chopra's third-best throw of 89.49m came at the Lausanne Diamond League 2024This is Chopra's best throw ever at a global championship and his third-best overall.
• Neeraj Chopra's fourth-best throw in javelin throw came at Paris Olympics 2024 where he bagged the silver medal with an 89.45m throw. 
• His fifth best throw came in Paavo Nurmi Games in 2022 where he went close to that 90m mark once again.
• In the Lausanne Diamond League 2022, held in the month of August, Neeraj Chopra had thrown the sixth-best throw of his career. Neeraj had thrown the javelin 89.08 meters.
• Neeraj's seventh-best throw came in the Asian Games 2023 held in Hangzhou. In this round, Neeraj had achieved a distance of 88.88m.
• Neeraj Chopra's eighth-best throw came in the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest. In this competition which was held on August 25, 2023, Neeraj showed excellent performance and achieved a distance of 88.77m.
  

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The Ultimate Table Tennis 2025 season is set to take place from May 29 to June 15 at EKA Arena in Ahmedabad, the organisers announced on Friday.

This will be the sixth season of India's premier table tennis league, featuring eight teams with top Indian and international table tennis stars. The defending champions, Goa Challengers, will aim for a third consecutive title.

The tournament which started in 2017, has seen Indian Table Tennis stars like Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar and Sutirtha Mukherjee, alongside international stars like Olympic silver medallist Petrissa Solja AND Tiago Apolónia

8 teams will be divided into two groups and every team will have six players in their squad. Each tie will have five matches. Last season. Goa Challengers defended their title against Dabang Delhi TTC in Chennai. 

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Ultimate Table Tennis 2025 Schedule & Venue

• Tournament Dates: May 29 – June 15, 2025
• Venue: EKA Arena, Ahmedabad
• Final Match: June 15, 2025

UTT 2025 Format & Rules

• Teams: 8
• Players per Team: 6 (including 2 international stars)
• Groups: 2 groups of 4 teams each
• League Stage: 5 ties per team
  • 3 matches within the group
  • 2 matches against randomly selected teams from the other group
• Knockouts: Top 4 teams advance to semi-finals
• Final: June 15, 2025

Each tie consists of five matches:

• 2 Men’s Singles Matches
• 2 Women’s Singles Matches
• 1 Mixed Doubles Match

Teams in UTT 2025

Streaming Details

The streaming details of the UTT 2025 have not been announced yet. 

The World Number 30 Manika Batra stunned the table tennis arena by defeating World Number 14 Bernadette Scoz from Romania, becoming the first ever Indian to reach the WTT quarterfinals in France.

A four-time Commonwealth medalist and an Olympian, Manika Batra, survived a 5 point defeat in the second set, winning the rest two later. On Friday, against Scoz, she saved two game points in the third game to keep herself ahead. finally sealing the tie in the next game, converting her second march point.

Manika won 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9) in 29 minutes against the eighth-seeded Scoz in a round-16 match. Nevertheless, Manika enjoys a safe lead against Scoz- 6-5.

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Manika Batra to face Tianyi

Manika Batra will play the quarterfinal on Saturday. There she will meet the World number 21 Qian Tianyi from China.

Tianyi reached the quarterfinal after defeating Wang Yidi by 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 13-11) in another R-16 match.

In the first round, Manika's first prey was USA's Lily Zhang, against whom she won in a straight set of 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 12-10)

The other Indian in queue in women's singles, Sreeja Akula, however, got defeated by World No. 13 Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico. Diaz defeated Akula by 2-3 (11-6, 7-11, 1-11, 11-8, 8-11)

Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom expressed disappointment over the poor performance of Indian boxers in the Paris Olympics 2024. She said that being a medal winner, it is natural that she feels bad.

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India had sent a team of six boxers to the Paris 2024, which included two men and four women. It also included Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain and world champion Nikhat Zareen.

Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing

Mary Kom expressed her desire to re-enter professional boxing, stating, "I am planning to make a comeback.I will try to make a comeback in pro-boxing." In the same event, she shared her happiness in participating in sports-promoting events but remained concerned about India's performance at the Olympics. 

'We will assess what needs to be done'

Mary Kom told IANS during the Army Sports Conclave, "Looking at the Olympics performance, its unfortunate that we didn’t win a medal in the 2024 Olympics. We will assess what needs to be done moving forward and what shouldn’t be done,"

India's boxing campaign was disappointing 

Lovlina (women's 75kg) missed out on a historic second medal at the Paris Olympics and lost to China's Li Qian in the quarterfinals. At the same time, in the men's 71 kg category, Nishant Dev had reached the quarter-finals, but he had to face defeat from Marco Verde of Mexico.

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg), Commonwealth Games champion Amit Panghal (men's 51kg) and Preeti Pawar (women's 54kg) lost in the round of 16 in their respective categories. Jasmine Lamboria (women's 57 kg) was eliminated in the round of 32. Overall, India's Paris Olympics boxing campaign was disappointing.

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra’s best throws: Here are all the top throws by javelin ace Neeraj Chopra

"As a world champion and medallist myself, its natural to feel disappointed. We'll focus on more practice and hard work for the upcoming tournaments," Mary Kom added.

Only three boxers achieved olympic medal

Notably, so far only three Indian boxers have won medals in the Olympics – Vijender Singh (bronze in Beijing 2008), Mary Kom (bronze in London 2012) and Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in Tokyo 2020).