Table Tennis star Sreeja Akula deprived of prize money since her win in April

Sreeja Akula is one of the rising stars in table tennis in India. She had scripted history by winning the elusive gold medal for India in the mixed doubles category, at Commonwealth Games 2022.

She was also the winner in singles and doubles events at the 2022 Senior National Championships held in April. At present, the 24-year old is one of the top ranked women’s table tennis players in the country.

But Sreeja is facing the brunt of unwarranted and unclear delays in receiving her prize money for her wins at the Senior National Championships earlier this year. She informed the media that she hadn’t received the prize money for singles and doubles’ wins at the national event.

“It’s not a small amount. I should get more than ₹2 lakhs. We keep sending emails but get no proper reply,” Sreeja told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the National Games.

Representing Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the 24-year old had beaten 38-year-old Mouma Das 4-1 in the final of women’s singles at the national tournament. She had teamed up with Ayikha Mukherjee to beat the RSPB pair of Takeme Sarkar and Prapti Sen in the doubles final.

Sreeja informed the media that while Mouma Das and most men’s singles medallists had received their payments, she hadn’t and didn’t know why. She had even written a letter to the CoA and the Meghalaya association asking why she hadn’t got her payment but to no avail.

In the recently held National Games 2022, the Hyderabad-born paddler lost to Sutirtha Mukherjee in the final of women’s singles. Sutirtha defeated her 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9.