Chinese table tennis megastar Sun Yingsha said she could resonate with the late Kobe Bryant after reading the autobiography of the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar during the closed training period before the World Championships.

China beat Japan 3-2 in the women’s final at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London behind two solid wins from Sun, who remained undefeated in nine outings in the English capital as China won their 24th world title.

In a pre-recorded interview with state broadcaster CCTV that was filmed last month and first aired on Thursday, Sun revealed that she was deeply inspired by Bryant’s mentality as she finished reading the NBA legend’s autobiography, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, while training in Chengdu before the biennial tournament.

“The thing that impressed me the most was that Kobe noted the gym was very quiet when he had his morning exercise every day,” world No 1 Sun said. “He enjoyed being alone there, and I could understand that very well.

“He also said when he entered the arena to play, he couldn’t hear the cheers from the crowd because he was used to training alone day after day and was able to shut out the outside noise. I could really relate to this.”

Bryant, who tragically died in January 2020 in a helicopter accident, was famous for starting his personal training in Los Angeles at 4.00am. While Sun admitted “I haven’t seen much of the world at 4”, she said she had consistently trained in Beijing, Weihai and Chengdu at 6.00am for many years.