Sun Yingsha wants to win everything in table tennis in Paris

Sun Yingsha will participate in three table tennis events, the women's singles, women's team and mixed doubles, at the coming 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

Having won the World Championships and the World Cup, Sun kept coming closer to winning every major table tennis honor at the age of 23. She participated in her first Olympic Games in 2021 in Tokyo, helped China win the women's team gold medal and secured the women's singles silver.

Though China won four of the five table tennis golds in Tokyo, they suffered an early head-on blow when Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen lost to Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito of Japan in the mixed doubles final. That loss frustrated the whole Chinese national team until Sun swept Ito in the women's singles semifinals. The victory became a great boost to the team's confidence.

"The last Olympics was unknown to me on a lot of fronts including preparation and match-playing," Sun told China Media Group (CMG). "I felt like I was still exploring it at that time. Now I believe I have improved step by step, not just physically, but also mentally."

In order to win the mixed doubles gold in Paris, China assembled the pair of Sun and Wang Chuqin for the event. The two won both of the past two World Championships, but their performance has also been put under the microscope by the opponents.

Each team can send only one pair to the mixed doubles event at the 2024 Olympic Games. At least five of the 16 pairs are capable of competing for the gold. So, the task on Sun's shoulders will be nothing but tough.

Of course, Sun has every reason to be confident in herself, not only because of her quick growth since making debut in international competitions in 2017, but also thanks to her continuous efforts in training and practice.

"As I grow older, I have become more mature and made more progress," Sun said. "I have a lot of role models to learn from. I'm not saying that I want to copy anyone or become the next someone because everyone is unique. … But when people mention my name in the future, I want their impression of me to be unique too."