Exclusive | 'There won't be any major changes in my game': TT star Sreeja Akula on Asian Games 2026 preparations

The 2026 Asian Games is set to kick off in AichiNagoya Japan from September 19 to October 4Ahead of the continental event India has announced the squad for table tennis Veteran player Manika Batra was left out of the main squad and named among the reserves by the Table Tennis Federation of India TTFIWith the senior player named among the reserves Sreeja Akula and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will lead Indiarsquos 10member table tennis team in JapanSpeaking exclusively to middaycom about her preparations for the continental event mdash which is still a few months away mdash Akula expressed excitementIm quite excited and looking forward to the upcoming Asian Games Particularly Im happy that I have recovered from the injury I was on a break for six to seven months following which I was on and off with a shoulder injury and also had to undergo a surgery she saidIm happy that I finally got back to training In the next couple of months Ill be playing a number of international tournaments to get back my match sharpness and into the competition zone Akula addedWhen asked about the new additions to her game for the continental tournament she stressed the importance of staying fitThere wont be any major changes in my game Definitely it will be imperative for me to work on my strength and speed so I stay injuryfree and remain quick on my feet From a technical point of view Ill be working on improving my receiving and serves and overall getting my consistency in the game said the 27yearold table tennis starTable tennis is widely considered as one of the fastpaced sports which requires quick decisionmakingSpeaking about the nature of the sport Akula said that it demands a lot of reflexes and fitnessI believe that though table tennis is a fastpaced sport which requires reflexes and fitness mental training is also of paramount importance At the elite level 50 per cent of the game revolves around the psychological aspect For example there can be situations when you can face the world number 1 and that time it is important not to get intimidated by the opponent and focus on your own game she saidThere are a lot of mental training exercises such as breathing visualisation and meditation which help me stay focused There are days when things dont go my way but these exercises then help me focus on what needs to be done at that moment added the Hyderabadborn athleteShe made special mention to Momentum by Raise which provided her with financial supportThe financial support from Momentum by Raise is truly helping me a lot It has helped me to take care of costs that I incur towards my training equipment recovery and many other miscellaneous expenses are been taken care of Im able to focus on my training without worrying too much about the expenditure So Im extremely grateful to Momentum by Raise for their support said the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist in mixed doublesAkula signed off by revealing one of her dreams that she is yet to achieveHonestly I have a number of dreams that I want to fulfil But if I have to mention one dream that I want to fulfil then it would be to win an Olympic medal for the country she saidAsian Games 2026 Indias table tennis squadMen G Sathiyan Harmeet Desai Manav Thakkar Manush Shah Payas JainWomen Sreeja Akula Yashaswini Ghorpade Diya Chitale Sutirtha Mukherjee Syndrela DasReserves Ankur Bhattacharjee Ronit Bhanja men Swastika Ghosh Manika Batra women