The what ifs will certainly keep along with her for a very long time. On her twenty sixth birthday, India’s Sreeja Akula had unimaginable probabilities to offer herself one of the best birthday present — a win over World No. 1 Solar Yinghsa. However a complete of 9 recreation factors squandered within the opening two video games meant that the Indian World No. 25 was knocked out of the ladies’s singles within the Spherical of 16 on the Paris Olympics.
The 4-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3) scoreline might present it was a routine win for the World No. 1, however it was something however that. Sreeja was proper there, going paddle-to-paddle with one of the best on this planet. Utilizing her pimpled rubber on her backhand, Sreeja performed it brief to Yingsha who struggled to achieve. With the return coming barely excessive, Sreeja executed an ideal flip to unleash her forehand topspin that bought her plenty of factors.
Like Manika Batra, Sreeja too twiddled, and why not? She was able to do something to get that win.
Solar Yingsha exhibiting class 🏓
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The difficulty with pimpled rubber is that it doesn’t work so effectively when the opponent is ready to generate a ton of energy. That’s precisely what Yingsha did when she was down 4 recreation factors within the first recreation. She adopted the identical syllabus when down 5 recreation factors within the second.
Flustered after letting these two video games go and along with her confidence absolutely taking a beating, it was going to be robust for Sreeja to come back again into the match. Yingsha merely switched gears within the third and fourth video games to win the match, although Sreeja did present glimpses of a battle.
The match might have been misplaced, however Sreeja as soon as once more confirmed that Indians are able to competing with the Chinese language, and that they not worry them.
The Indian girls’s paddlers’ historic run within the girls’s singles in Paris ended, with Manika too dropping her Rd of 16 match earlier within the day.
Sreeja and Co. can precise revenge on the workforce occasion subsequent week, the place they may solely meet China if each attain the ultimate.