Born in the new millennium in Shijiazhuang, northern China, Sun first caught the attention of the public in 2017 when she won the singles title at the Junior National Championships and was then recruited into the second-string national team the same year. This January saw another key moment for Sun, as she was promoted into the first-string national squad with two other girls after team trials.

When Japanese budding star Miu Hirano successively knocked out three Chinese players to win the Asian Championships title at Wuxi, China in April, the Chinese team started to look through Miu's game. And in order to prepare for the Dusseldorf World Championships, the national team chose Sun to imitate Hirano as training partner for her teammates.

At the Japan Open last week, Sun won the singles title after Chen Meng eliminated Hirano in the semifinal. In fact, Sun also tasted victory over Hirano at the Asian Junior Championships last September. The two players of similar age are seen as the tomorrow of women's table tennis.

"Sun is very young, but we can see that she has great potential. She is a player with her own thoughts," said Grand Slam champion Ding.

On her advice for her youth teammate, Ding added that there would be more challenges ahead of Sun, and she should move on step by step.

"Now, other players got to know her and study her. She will face more difficulties than before, which means she should work harder than before," Ding said.

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