The Chinese player competed at Buenos Aires 2018 where she won the mixed team and singles gold medals, with victory against Japan's Hirano Miu in the latter.

Since her success in the Argentine capital, the 22-year-old went on to win the Olympic team title and finished as runner-up in the women's singles tournament.

"It was a very important turning point for me, as I didn't have much experience in major competitions," Sun said.

"I was a young player and didn't have the same level of competition experience as someone like Hirano Miu, who was already an absolute mainstay of the Japanese team.

"I realised that my overall strength might not be as good as hers, but I was able to truly let go of that pressure and just focus on playing every shot to my best."

At the Youth Olympic Games, each team was limited to one men's and one women's player with only a small number of support staff.

Although it meant there was a lack of sparring partners, she was afforded more attention by coaches which had a beneficial impact.

"During the Youth Olympic Games, I was the only (female) player from my team, and I only trained with coaches Yan Sen and Chen Zhenjiang.

"During singles training, I only had the opportunity to warm up with coach Yan Sen before matches.

"The preparation process for the Youth Olympics was also unforgettable.

"Every day, I prepared myself mentally to possibly lose and trained hard.

"So when I reached the final and played against Hirano Miu, my mentality was pretty good."

The year after Buenos Aires 2018, Sun had her breakthrough at the senior level as she won the Japan Open, Australian Open, German Open, and Asian Championships.

That put her into the world's top three in the rankings of November 2019, a position she has not given up since.