Sreeja outclasses Kallberg, enters Round of 32

Paris, Jul 28 (PTI) India’s top-ranked table tennis player Sreeja Akula entered the round of 32 with a clinical 4-0 win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg at the Paris Olympics here on Sunday.

Sreeja, who had created history by becoming the first Indian paddler to win a WTT Contender singles title, registered a 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory in 30 minutes over the Swede.

The Indian had little trouble bagging the first set but was stretched in the second, and her rival continued to do that in the next two sets as well.

In the third set, Sreeja and Kallberg went neck-to-neck till 7-5, but the Indian found her bearings just in time to pocket it.

Sreeja made the early running in the fourth set, taking a 9-3 lead, but a few unforced errors and a couple of good smashes helped Kallberg narrow the lead to 9-7 and then to 10-8.

But a powerful unanswered forehand to the right corner of the table propelled Sreeja to the next round.

In the other matches of the day, Manika Batra will face Anna Hursey of Great Britain while veteran Sharath Kamal will take on Deni Kozul of Slovenia.