In fact, Sun Yingsha's era began in 2019, and Sun Yingsha's performance that year was amazing. At the World Table Tennis Championships in early 2019, Sun Yingsha defeated Misei Ito 4-2. That was just the beginning of Sun Yingsha, at the end of 2018, Ito Micheng defeated Ding Ning, Zhu Yuling, Liu Shiwen, these main forces, which made Sun Yingsha rise.
If there is no Misei Ito's shocking performance, I believe Sun Yingsha will have to continue to wait. It was the main lineup of national table tennis at that time that could not cope with the impact of Misei Ito, so that young players such as Sun Yingsha gradually became the main force of national table tennis. However, at that time, fans generally believed that the old players were more experienced in the tournament, and they were still skeptical of the younger players.
But Sun Yingsha was only 19 years old at the time, and she played the first singles in the women's team final of the table tennis team competition in 2019, narrowly defeating Misei Ito 3-2, reflecting the ability of a big heart to resist pressure. At that time, Sun Yingsha chased five points in a row after falling behind 7-10 and successfully saved the match point. Misei Ito also had to sigh at Sun Yingsha's strength, that year was the beginning of Sun Yingsha's rise.
I have to say that Sun Yingsha was at the peak of her debut at that time, whether it was in the World Table Tennis Championships or in the finals of the team competition, she was the real responsibility of the national table tennis foreign war. Sun Yingsha has indeed turned the tide many times, and the real peak should be in the women's singles semifinals and women's team finals of the 2021 Olympic Games. Sun Yingsha defeated Mimato Ito in the Olympics, and it can be said that all her brilliant results are against Misei Ito.
Today, Ito has fallen into decline, and since the end of the Tokyo Olympics, the number of fights with Sun Yingsha has dropped sharply. Sun Yingsha's competitors have also changed, becoming competitors such as Hina Hayata, Miwa Zhangmoto, and Miyu Hirano. Compared with Misei Ito, Hina Hayata's competitors have stronger comprehensive strength in terms of playing style.
Therefore, the impact of these Japanese table tennis players on Sun Yingsha is far greater than that of Ito Miseko, and Sun Yingsha's three-year undefeated record in foreign wars was also broken by Miyu Hirano. Throughout 2023, Hina Hayada and Miwa Zhang will drag Sun Yingsha into the tiebreaker, and although Sun Yingsha vs. Misei Ito is also more thrilling, she will crush Misei Ito technically.
But against Hina Hayata, Zhang Benmeiwa is different, these players have very advanced receiving skills, and they all lose in the details against Sun Yingsha, and they can always keep the score ahead, Sun Yingsha has become the chaser. Moreover, teammates such as Wang Manyu and Qian Tianyi also frequently defeated Sun Yingsha, and now Sun Yingsha is facing more challenges than in the previous two years.
From 2019 to the end of the 2021 Olympic Games, these two and a half years are the era of Sun Yingsha. Because Sun Yingsha, whether it is a big competition or a small competition, has become the most trustworthy player in national table tennis, and she will not drop the chain at critical moments. Although Sun Yingsha did not win the singles championship during this time, everyone knew that she only lost to her teammates and not to external players.
In fact, in the past two and a half years, Sun Yingsha has lost the World Cup championship and the Olympic singles championship in a row, and the final winner is Chen Meng. After Chen Meng won these two championships, he was without a singles championship for 21 months, and Sun Yingsha, who won the runner-up, won consecutive championships in various events, which shows that Sun Yingsha is still on the rise.
Since the second half of 2021, or since the warm-up match for the Olympic Games in May 2021, Wang Manyu has grown rapidly. Although she only participated in the Olympic team competition, Wang Manyu won consecutive championships in the subsequent National Games and the World Table Tennis Championships, and many fans believe that if Wang Manyu participates in the Olympic singles competition in 2021, it is possible to achieve a Grand Slam in a short period of time.
In just three months, Wang Manyu won two consecutive singles championships in the tournament, much like Sun Yingsha in 2019. Although Wang Manyu has been plagued by coach changes and injuries in 2022 and 2023, Wang Manyu has not slipped quickly and now looks to be rising again.
Although it has experienced various off-court factors, Wang Manyu's career upward momentum has been slow but firm. Especially throughout 2023, Wang Manyu has been facing the difficult situation of training and preparing for the competition for a long time. Even with such difficulties, Wang Manyu still won the singles championship of the Asian Championships, and it is not easy to win three singles championships in a row in a whole year.
The singles titles in all three tournaments are extremely high, because she is not dominant in each draw group, and she is basically surrounded by strong opponents. The important thing is that when the results were sluggish, Wang Manyu still withstood all kinds of public opinion pressure, so the period from the second half of 2021 to the present is the twin star era of Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu.
Although Sun Yingsha did not have the interference of Wang Manyu's injury and off-court factors, she did have a very hard time playing against Japanese table tennis players. A very important reason is that the technical advancement of Japanese table tennis players has been demonstrated, and Wang Manyu himself is good at playing the first three boards, and he has an advantage against Japanese table tennis players.
Judging from the current skills of these two players, Wang Manyu will eventually usher in his own era. Of course, Sun Yingsha is also trying to catch up, after all, Sun Yingsha is still young and doesn't want to be surpassed by competitors. The Paris 2024 Olympics will be an important turning point, and who will be the king of the next era?
This remains to be tested by the competition, and it is always the player's skill and comprehensive ability that determines the player's position. Wang Manyu has faced more difficulties in the past two years, but her ability to overcome difficulties is also obvious to all, so Wang Manyu's career will eventually reach its peak.