The Chinese women’s team finished the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships with a bang on November 29, with 22-year-old Wang Manyu taking home the hardware (the Geist Prize) at the women’s singles finals after beating her compatriot Sun Yingsha.

The 56th edition of the tournament was held in Houston, Texas from November 23 to 29 — the first time the United States has played host.

With Wang’s win, the Chinese team has won the women’s singles in the World Table Tennis Championships 14 consecutive times.

Screengrab via Weibo

Wang’s singles performance was not her only triumph: The duo of Wang and Sun came out on top in the champions’ women’s doubles event, outperforming the team of Mima Ito and Hina Hayata from Japan.

After her victory, Wang shared in an interview, “The past two years were filled with really tough moments. I want to thank everyone who has helped me and supported me. I am very grateful for my journey.”

Netizens were quick to celebrate Wang’s accomplishments. The related hashtag ‘Wang Manyu won the World Table Tennis Championships women’s singles’ (王曼昱获世乒赛女单冠军) was quickly trending on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform, accumulating more than 130 million views at the time of writing.

“I have all the respect for Manyu, who is incredibly humble. This is only the beginning. She is the winner in my heart,” wrote one netizen.

“I still remember when I talked to Manyu [at the China Table Tennis Super League]. Even though she did not have a match that night, she still stayed late and practiced. I knew from that moment she was successful for a reason,” another posted. “This is her first win at a world championship, but this is only her first step!”

Cover image via Wikimedia