China’s ‘little devil’ Zhu Qihui already a table tennis world beater – at 13
The teen, who wins regularly above her age group, has been likened to world No 1 Sun Yingsha, Olympic champion Fan Zhendong
As if its global dominance in women’s table tennis was not already strong enough, China has unearthed a potential successor to all-conquering world No 1 Sun Yingsha – and she is just 13 years old.
Born in 2012 in the city of Shangqiu in Henan province, Zhu Qihui beat compatriot Liu Ziling 4-1 in the WTT China Youth Smash women’s singles final on Sunday, completing a hat-trick of titles after also winning the Singapore and Europe Youth Smash events in February and August.
Unbeaten in seven matches in the under-15 category, Zhu also took part in the under-19 events in Beijing, but lost in the first round at Shouhang Park to Hu Yi.
It was not the first time that Zhu had taken on older players on the international stage.
In early September, the Henan native took part in the under-17 category at the WTT Youth Contender Otocec, where she won five matches on the trot to win the title in Slovenia. Zhu also took home the under-19 title in Varazdin, Croatia.
Mainland Chinese state media CCTV compared the teenager to two of China’s best in recent years, suggesting she was “smart and lively”, with gestures and expressions very similar to Sun, who has been at the top of the rankings for more than three years.