After participating in the Doha Station of the WTT Regular Challenge and the Doha Station of the WTT Star Challenge, the number one brother Lin Yunru and the number one sister Zheng Yijing returned successfully. They will first quarantine and then prepare for the next WTT China event. Previously, Lin Yunru and Zheng Yijing had been training with the national table tennis team for nearly three months. They won the mixed doubles championship back to back in the two matches of the WTT Middle East Events, and also rose to first place in the third place in the mixed doubles world rankings.
Zheng Yijing and Lin Yunru trained with several other foreign association players after the WTT Macau Tournament in November last year. They then participated in the 2020 Table Tennis Super League. Lin Yunru joined Shandong Weiqiao team and finally won the runner-up of the men's team. There was also a highlight moment of defeating Grand Slam winner Ma Long. Zheng Yijing formed a World Professional Team with several other foreign association female players to participate. After the end of the Table Tennis Super League, they continued to train with the national table tennis team. In January this year, they moved to Hainan Lingshui for a closed training camp with the national table tennis team. They trained with American player Zhang An and Puerto Rico Diaz until they set off to participate in the WTT Middle East event in late February. During the training of the national table tennis team, Zheng Yijing also celebrated her 29th birthday. Sun Yingsha, Wang Yidi and other players of the national table tennis team celebrated her birthday together.
In the two matches of WTT Middle East Events, Zheng Yijing and Lin Yunru performed averagely in the singles field. Zheng Yijing lost to Romania in the first round of the regular challenge to Szokos, who was tragically in the first round, and lost to Japan's Shina Hayata in the Star Challenge and missed the quarterfinals; Lin Yunru reached the finals in the regular challenge and lost to Germany's Ocharov to the runner-up, and lost to the big dark horse who finally reached the finals and German chopper Firus missed the quarterfinals. However, Zheng Yijing and Lin Yunru shined in the mixed doubles arena. The two won the championship back-to-back and won the championships in both competitions. After the first race, the two surpassed the national table tennis team Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen and Japan's Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito to become the world number one in the mixed doubles. After the second race, the two further consolidated their advantages.
Lin Yunru and Zheng Yijing qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with their results in the 2019 ITTF year-end finals and became strong contenders for mixed doubles medals. After following the national table tennis team training for three months, their skills and tactics have also improved to a certain extent. They won two consecutive championships in WTT Middle East Events, which also increased their confidence in preparing for the Tokyo Olympics. The ITTF plans to hold a WTT China event in May, including 3 to 4 high-level international events. After Zheng Yijing and Lin Yunru go home to rest, they will start preparing for the WTT China event, and are expected to play with the national table tennis team's Olympic mixed doubles Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen.
