Indian's top-ranked women's table tennis player Sreeja Akula credits her enhanced mental and physical strength over the past two years for her stunning victories against higher-ranked players as she hopes to carry this momentum into the Paris Olympics.

Sreeja created history last week by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to win a WTT Contender singles title and on Tuesday she became the country's top paddler with a career-high ranking of 24.

"For the last two years, I have been working a lot on improving my mental strength and I think that is the first aspect where I have improved, especially in 2024. I am mentally well prepared to play against any opponent, whoever it is," Sreeja said an interview with Ultimate Table Tennis.

"I have also been working a lot on my strength and conditioning, especially to prevent injuries, and to improve my agility on the table. I think that has made a lot of difference in my game.

"I have also worked a lot on my first ball attack against the push. I have tried to be more consistent in attacking that ball and I can see these three aspects have brought a lot of change in my game," she said.

Sreeja would be participating in both the team and individual events and is definitely high on confidence as she has hit a purple patch this year.

"It's my debut Olympic Games but I think I am well prepared for the tournament. I just want to play my best in whichever event I am playing and just want to create the maximum number of upsets."

Both Indian men's and women's teams have secured a historic qualification in the team event at the Paris Olympics.

In 2022, Sreeja had teamed up with Sharath to win the mixed doubles gold in her first-ever Commonwealth Games appearance in Birmingham