CHENNAI: In 2018, the Ultimate Table Tennis sophomore season, then 20-year-old Sreeja Akula was just a non-playing member. A lot has changed since then, with regards to table tennis and personally as well. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist thinks the time she spent two years learning from the best has helped her gain valuable lessons.
"In 2018, I was in the youth category, but I got the opportunity to stay and learn with senior national and international players. It was helpful for me because even though I was a non-playing member, I learned many things. Like, how the others train, what they do for their fitness and more," Sreeja told this daily.
That experience at the highest level ignited the fire and showed the youngster what she can achieve. She took all of the inputs from senior players and worked on her game. "With the foreign coaches, I received inputs that I could use in my game. There were a lot of inputs to take, from the last UTT. And since then, I've worked a lot on my skills," she added.
Playing as a member of Dabang Delhi in this edition of UTT, Sreeja is making the most of this exposure. "It's important for a sport like table tennis in India to get such exposure. Such kinds of leagues are important to promote the sport. Not just for the players, but all the other youngsters who have come to Pune to watch the matches, too."
Along with the increasing awareness, Sreeja thinks another benefit of the UTT lies in its access to better facilities and sponsors, which was a rarity in the past. "I think, with the increased awareness about the sport. There are also many private sponsors who are coming up to help the players alongside the government. The private sponsor are taking care of the individual needs of players. Which is helping them to get better exposure by training outside the country as well."
With the Asian Games in her sight, Sreeja is absorbing everything she can from the seniors of her team, especially someone like Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. "In any sport, it's important that seniors help the juniors and guide them. And I'm very fortunate that in table tennis, all the seniors are very helpful, especially Sathiyan bhaiya. Whenever we want any help, he is always ready to help," she added.
The UTT has given a platform for young players like Sreeja to hone their skills. With talent like Sreeja, it's not going to stop anytime soon.