NEW DELHI: India’s Sreeja Akula booked her spot in the round of 16 of the WTT Champions tournament in Yokohama on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Sreeja, competing after her runner-up finish at last week’s Commonwealth Championships, required four match points to secure a 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 12-10) victory over Austrian World No. 45 Sofia Polcanova in 33 minutes in her campaign opener. It is the maiden win at the WTT Champions level for Sreeja after six first-round losses on the trot.
Sreeja, ranked 67th in the world, will next face seventh-seeded Korean Shin Yubin for a place in the quarterfinals. Agencies
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