Table Tennis: Sreeja Akula sails into pre-quarterfinals, joins Manika

Paris: Indian table tennis player Sreeja Akula entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games after a hard-fought 4-2 win over Singapore's Jian Zeng in a women's singles round of 32 match here on Wednesday.

Sreeja won the match 9-11 12-10 11-4 11-5 12-10 12-10 to join compatriot Manika Batra in the pre-quarters, an unprecedented feat in the history of Indian table tennis.

She lost the opening game but fought back strongly to emerge as the winner in the contest, which lasted 51 minutes.

Batra had made the pre-quarters on Monday.