Sreeja Akula eager to continue her ‘upsets’ trend at World Championships

There’s a marked tinge of change in emphasis and tone when Sreeja Akula uses the word “upsets” in describing her aim of going past some higher-ranked players at the World Table Tennis Championships (WTTC) Finals starting from Saturday in Durban.

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“It’s going to be my first singles World Championships, and the first is always special," Sreeja said. “I’m excited. I want to inflict some good upsets.”

That’s something the 24-year-old has done with routine regularity in the big tournaments over the last year. Her Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) breakthrough where she won the mixed doubles gold with Sharath Kamal and came close to a singles medal hogged headlines. Equally impressive, if not more, was her World Team Table Tennis Championships show in October where she beat three top-50 players and won four of her six matches as India’s standout player. She also defeated world No. 21 Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei at the Asian WTTC Continental Stage in January to seal her place for the WTTC.

That result, in a way, symbolised the soft-spoken Sreeja’s recent habit of punching above her weight when the stakes are raised.

“I prepare a lot for these big tournaments," Sreeja said from Bengaluru, where the paddlers trained in a national camp before flying to Durban. “Even the mindset plays a big role. There is some pressure, but I also enjoy playing in such tournaments where I get to face a lot of higher-ranked players. I'm like, ‘They are really good, so I want to show my best on the table’.

“The mindset is therefore different. In domestic tournaments, the mindset is to win. Here, it's more about wanting to give my best,” Sreeja, who defended her national singles title last month, said.

That’s not to say Sreeja, for long unable to step up in the international setup until the CWG propelled her, is now immune to big stage fright.

“I wouldn't say it is no longer there. But that is a good thing. It's not pressure, but a feeling that sort of motivates me. I'm now confident that I'll be able to manage that feeling because I've gone through that situation in the last year.”

With increased spotlight, she does feel the “fear sometimes that there are many expectations on me”, but is learning to handle that through mental training with her psychologist. “There's no outside pressure, but my own internal pressure: I want to do well, improve my world ranking, beat higher-ranked players.”

After almost stunning world No. 16 Feng Tianwei in the CWG semi-finals, Sreeja produced victories against German Nina Mittelham (then world No. 14) and Egyptians Dina Meshref (No. 29) and Hana Goda (No. 42) in the team worlds while also beating Chen in the Asian event. Yet for her giant-killing days exuding “positive thinking”, Sreeja also went through a phase of lull after CWG that has dipped her world ranking to 112. She crashed out early in two WTT Contender events last year and lost to Japanese 7th-ranked Mima Ito in four games in Amman earlier this year. At the Goa Star Contender, Sreeja could not get past Hana, the Egyptian prodigy she had beaten in the team worlds, in the Round of 64 and exited from the qualifiers of Singapore Smash.

The Hyderabad paddler, though, feels she has got better at taking the bad days with the good.

“As a child, I used to cry a lot and make a big fuss after losses. Gradually I've learnt to get over it. Now when I have a bad phase, I talk to my mental trainer and coach. Yes, at that point after I lose, I feel quite depressed. Sometimes after a match I feel like I just want to stop all this. But once I'm back home and back training, I regain my energy and focus. I’ve learnt to not keep that negativity for too long,” she said.

That, she believes, is the biggest difference in her before and after the CWG. “Mentally, I have become stronger. After the CWG, it's not like I had a consistently good phase; there were some tough results too. But I've learnt that there will be good phases and bad, and that I need to stay neutral and work on my present.”

And so the World Championships, where Sreeja will also play doubles with Diya Chitale, remains the focus. Followed by the Asian Games and Paris Olympics qualification in a “very tough, very exciting” year ahead. “There are also some international events lined up after the World Championships, and I want to improve my world ranking. Get into the top 100, then 80, 50.”

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