World Table Tennis Championships women's singles new king Sun Yingsha kisses the championship trophy. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
After holding the World Table Tennis Championships Women's Singles Championship Championship Ji Geist Cup, Sun Yingsha first looked at it seriously for a while, and then kissed the silver trophy. In the Durban World Table Tennis Championships, which ended on the evening of May 28, Sun Yingsha defeated Chen Meng 4-2, becoming the first post-00s women's singles champion in the history of the World Table Tennis Championships, and also completed the great cause of the World Table Tennis Championships Golden Slam. Sun Yingsha said frankly that it was not easy to win this championship, breaking through herself and defeating herself.
From the 2019 Budapest World Table Tennis Championships to now, Sun Yingsha has won 6 gold medals in the World Table Tennis Championships in 4 years. As the youngest member of the main layer of women's table tennis, Sun Yingsha, born in 2000, has outstanding singles and doubles ability, and women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles are currently ranked first in the world. At the Paris Olympics, Sun Yingsha is likely to have three tasks, and what awaits her will be greater responsibility and mission.
Champion Road
The 6th championship of the World Table Tennis Championships is the most precious, and I want to touch the trophy for a while
Last night's women's singles final was played between Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng, a reproduction of the women's singles final at the Tokyo Olympics. In the end, Sun Yingsha defeated Chen Meng 4-2 and became the 8th World Table Tennis Championships gold slam for the national table tennis team.
Two years ago in Houston, Sun Yingsha was one step away from the trophy, and finally lost 4-2 to Wang Manyu. On the podium last night, Sun Yingsha carefully examined and kissed the Ji Geist Cup, which symbolizes the highest honor of the World Table Tennis Championships women's singles. "The feeling of holding the trophy in your hand is very different, I hope to touch it for a while, it is too difficult to touch." Sun Yingsha said that the effort has been rewarded, and this championship is an affirmation of her.
Replaying this women's singles final, Sun Yingsha said that to be able to stand in the final with Chen Meng, both of them are winners, "We all fought all the way to the final, maybe I was lucky and won the match." As the youngest member of the main layer of women's table tennis, Sun Yingsha said that she has learned a lot from Chen Meng over the years, and everyone's level is among the boys.
At the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, Sun Yingsha won two golds and one bronze in three sports. In addition to the women's singles cup, she also partnered Wang Chuqin to defend the mixed doubles title, and the women's doubles with Wang Manyu stopped in the semifinals and won a bronze medal.
In the 2019 Budapest World Table Tennis Championships, Sun Yingsha, who participated for the first time, partnered Wang Manyu to win the women's doubles championship and won the first gold medal in the World Table Tennis Championships. In 4 years, she has held 6 gold medals in the World Table Tennis Championships, including 1 gold medal in singles, 2 gold medals in mixed doubles, 2 gold medals in women's doubles and 1 gold medal in team competition.
Sun Yingsha (right) defeats Chen Meng in the women's singles final. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Endeavor Road
He lost the championship three times and grew up in doubt
At the beginning of 2017, Sun Yingsha entered the first team of national table tennis and won the gold medals in women's singles, women's doubles and women's team at the World Youth Championships in the same year. After that, she rose rapidly, entered the main layer of women's table tennis, and got the opportunity to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
In this process, Sun Yingsha has experienced low points, won the runner-up in the World Series many times, and has been questioned. In the final of the 2020 Women's Table Tennis World Cup, Sun Yingsha lost to Chen Meng. In the final of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Sun Yingsha lost to Chen Meng again. In the final of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston in the same year, Sun Yingsha lost to Wang Manyu. In a previous interview, she lamented that she had not yet won the singles world championship, but so many people liked her, "My results have failed to live up to the love of so many people." ”
In March 2022, Qiu Yike became Sun Yingsha's head coach, and the mentor and apprentice often worked overtime for training. During the direct Durban Trials at the beginning of this year, Sun Yingsha was the first to break through and qualify for the World Table Tennis Championships. Even so, she and Qiu Yike still practice at noon every day to polish and perfect various techniques.
Since the end of 2022, Sun Yingsha has maintained a very good competitive condition, winning the WTT (World Table Tennis Professional League) Macau Women's Singles Championship and the Xinxiang World Cup Finals Women's Singles Championship. Entering 2023, Sun Yingsha won the Singapore Grand Slam Women's Singles Championship and the Xinxiang Championship Women's Singles Championship successively, during which she once maintained a record of 24 consecutive wins in various events, and her good form continued until the Durban World Table Tennis Championships.
At the moment of winning the championship last night, Sun Yingsha rarely lay on the court to celebrate, and she bluntly said that her brain was a little empty at that moment. Sun Yingsha said that she has entered the final of the competition many times before, but she has always been unable to win, and this World Table Tennis Championships championship is an affirmation of her efforts for so many years.
Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu upset the South Korean pair Tian Zhixi/Shin Yubin in the women's doubles semifinals. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
The road ahead
After getting off the podium and starting from scratch, the Paris Olympics took on the heavy responsibility
"Broke through myself and defeated myself. I have encountered many difficulties along the way, and I have tried to overcome them one by one. After winning the women's singles title, Sun Yingsha talked twice about self-breakthrough and said that this championship was a good start.
In this year's Durban World Table Tennis Championships, the national table tennis team sent 6 men and 6 women to participate in the competition, of which Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha hold three positions, and the two are the absolute main force of the national table tennis team in the Paris Olympic cycle.
The schedule of the single World Table Tennis Championships is intensive, and Sun Yingsha often has to play three games a day, which is a great test of physical strength and energy. When asked how she persevered, Sun Yingsha smiled and said that if she knew how she trained every day, she would know the answer.
Compared with the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston two years ago, Sun Yingsha is now more calm on the field. She admits that after experiencing the baptism of the Tokyo Olympics, she has become a lot more mature and has made great progress in handling the ball on the field. Although she failed to complete the third consecutive women's doubles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, Sun Yingsha's performance is still worthy of recognition, and it also increases confidence for the next Paris Olympic preparations.
After the World Table Tennis Championships, Sun Yingsha will usher in a short adjustment period, and the next target is the Hangzhou Asian Games in September this year. "Go back and rest first, there is still a lot to sum up in this competition, and I hope there will be more progress in the future." Sun Yingsha said that everything started from scratch after getting off the podium, and there is still a long way to go, hoping that she will continue to improve and improve.
With her outstanding performance at the World Table Tennis Championships, Sun Yingsha's position as the world number one in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles has been consolidated, which puts her in a favorable position in the battle for the Olympic candidates in Paris. According to the selection method for the Paris Olympics announced by the Chinese Table Tennis Association, it is no surprise that Sun Yingsha will be shortlisted for the Olympic team, and may be in the three events of women's singles, women's team and mixed doubles, and she will be waiting for greater responsibility and mission.
Chief reporter of Beijing News Sun Haiguang
Edited by Wang Chunqiu
Proofreader Liu Jun