Sun Yingsha hits a return during the women's singles group match between Sun Yingsha of China and Yeh Yi-Tian of Chinese Taipei at the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup Haikou 2026 table tennis tournament in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, Feb. 4, 2026. Photo: VCG

After being sidelined for over a month due to an injury, star female paddler Sun Yingsha returned to competition on Wednesday at the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup with an impressive 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei's Yeh Yi-Tian in her opening match.

Sun clinched the straight-games victory with scores of 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province. 

Reflecting on her performance, Sun noted the challenges of returning from injury but emphasized her preparation to improve progressively throughout the tournament. 

"Coming back to the court, I still feel that freshness about competing, and I'm really excited," Sun told reporters. "The spectators here were cheering for me the whole time, and that gave me a lot of motivation."

Sun's last competitive outing was in December 2025, when the injury forced her withdrawal from the WTT Finals women's singles semifinal. 

"After resting and going through a full cycle of recovery training for more than a month, there's nothing about my physical state that worries me," Sun noted, before emphasizing her priority now is to translate training gains into match performance. 

"All the training I've done was to make sure I can show my best in competition," she said. "I hope these matches will test and confirm my recovered form."

Sun's group opponents also include India's Manika Batra (seeded 16) and Syria's Hend Zaza (29).

China, the perennial powerhouse in table tennis, sent a formidable contingent, with players seeded highly based on the ITTF World Singles Rankings. 

Wang Manyu, the second seed in women's singles, is in Group 2 alongside Japan's Kaho Akae (15), Chinese Taipei's Li Yu-jhun (17), and Qatar's Aya Majdi (30). She defeated Li 3-0 on Wednesday.

Women's third seed Chen Xingtong started her campaign with a 3-0 win over Chien Tung-chuan of Chinese Taipei. 

Kuai Man, the fourth seed in women's singles and a rising force in Chinese table tennis, opened Group 4 with a decisive 3-0 triumph over Hong Kong, China's Su Tsz Tung. 

Wang Yidi （seeded 5), dispatched Singapore's Ser Lin Qian 3-0, leveraging her powerful topspin loops and consistent backhand to control the pace. 

In the men's singles, top-seeded Wang Chuqin anchors Group A, facing Chinese Taipei's Feng Yi-hsin (14), India's Akash Pal (20), and Qatar's Mohammed Abdulwahhab (29). 

As the current world No.1, Wang's all-court game and mental fortitude make him a prime contender. He defeated Pal with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday after having a one-month break from competition. 

Lin Shidong, the second seed in men's singles, led the charge in Group B with a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi. 

Fourth seed Xiang Peng of China in Group D will contend with Kazakhstan's Kirill Gerassimenko (15), Chinese Taipei's Chang Yu-An (19), and Saudi Arabia's Ali Alkhadrawi (31). He outperformed Chang Yu-An 3-1 on Wednesday.

Another Chinese star player Fan Zhendong skipped the tournament. 

The ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup, running through Sunday, includes 32 men and 32 women competing in singles events. 

The format begins with a group stage consisting of eight groups of four players each, played in a round-robin style with best-of-five matches.

The top two from each group advance to a knockout stage, where the round of 16 remains best-of-five, but quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals shift to best-of-seven. 

Adding to the excitement, semifinalists in both men's and women's singles will secure berths in the 2026 ITTF Table Tennis World Cup.