Sun Yingsha, top Chinese table tennis player and world No. 1 in women's singles ranking, attributed her success at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to teamwork and hard training, where she earned two gold medals and one silver.
Sun, who competed in singles, mixed doubles, and team events in Paris 2024, has held the Women's World No. 1 ranking since July 2022 with only a brief interruption.
During an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Sun talked about her demanding competition schedule in Paris, noting that maintaining tactical awareness proved to be the most energy-consuming aspect.
"Physically, I believe my condition is okay, as we all train to build sufficient stamina during regular preparations. But during the high-intensity competition in the Olympics, energy is consumed most. Constantly thinking about strategies and maintaining this high level of mental focus are definitely the most tiring part," she said.
Sun also talked about her cooperation with Wang Chuqin in the table tennis mixed doubles event in Paris, where they secured the gold medal. It is China's first Olympic gold medal in the table tennis mixed doubles, which made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
According to Sun, effective collaboration relies on mutual trust and the ability to reassure each other during times of nervousness or subpar performance.
"The most important thing in partnering with another player is trust. The second thing is to share the responsibility and pressure equally," she said.
"When you feel nervous, you need to talk and communicate with others to help you relax, then you may feel better. The principle applies in the competition as well. If my partner loses a point or I get nervous, the other should start to talk, saying ‘it's okay’ and urge the teammate to try again. Just keep saying, and you will gradually regain your composure," she said.
Though viewed by some as genius, Sun says that tireless practice, rather than innate genius, is the key to her success.
"I don't think I am a genius. I believe that reaching the top, or the absolute highest level requires a blend of hard training and talent. And I think hard training definitely comes first," said Sun.
Sun's journey as champion began at 14 when she won the singles title at the Junior National Championships in 2015.
She shone at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, clinching silver in the women's singles and gold in the team event at the age of 20.
World No. 1 table tennis player in women's singles decodes ways to success in Paris 2024
The Israeli attacks on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) are politically motivated said Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, at a press briefing in New York on Wednesday.
Lazzarini said the institute is facing the most serious crisis since its establishment in 1949, adding that Israel's cutting its relations with UNRWA and banning UNRWA from operating in the country and eastern Jerusalem are direct attacks on the institute and are completely politically motivated.
He said so far 234 staff of UNRWA have been killed in conflicts and a great number of its facilities have been destroyed. The institute is also facing a worldwide disinformation campaign aiming at undermining its legitimacy in the international community.
Lazzarini stressed that if UNRWA stops operating, the responsibility of providing education and medical services will be left to the occupying power.
"If UNRWA cannot operate, that means the UN will not be able to operate and to provide these critical services. And in that case, the only alternative and option is that the owners and the responsibility goes back to the occupying power, meaning that Israel will be responsible to provide these critical services," he said.
On Wednesday at the UN general assembly forth committee, Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, called for Lazzarini to resign in shame.
Lazzarini responded that Danon's remarks are not a personal attack but an attack on the function of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, which will not come to an end even if he resigns.
"I did not have a bilateral meeting with ambassador Danon. He made a call this morning at the fourth committee asking me to resign in shame. And basically, my answer to this is that if my person would really make a difference, this is certainly something I should envisage. But I don't think it is my person which is attacked. It is my function. It is a Commissioner-General which is primarily targeted today, and it is a part of this broader campaign to delegitimize the agency and UNRWA," he said.
Lazzarini said the goal of Israel is to deprive Palestinians of their refugee status and make it impossible for them to return to the land that are now used as illegal settlements.
"The objective is to strip the Palestinian from the refugee status and also to unilaterally change the parameters for a political solution. It's a way to undermine the future aspiration of the Palestinian for self-determination. It's a way to undermine and to bury once for all the two-state solution. We have also seen that it's not just UNRWA which has been targeted. Any voices in the region supporting the Palestinian authorities supporting the pathway of a two-state solution started to be phased out," he said.
The Commissioner-General called on the member states of the UN to take emergency actions, preventing Israel from implementing relevant laws and clarifying the roles of UNRWA.
He also urged the international community not to delay or stop their donation to the institute. He warned that the attacks on UNRWA are not only weakening the function of the UN but also destabilizing the international order established since the end of the WWII.
UN commissioner-general says Israeli attacks on UNRWA politically motivated
