In 1995, a girl named Zhu Yuling was born in Mianyang, China. When Zhu was five, she fell ill. To pass the time while stuck at home, she began to play table tennis. Her talent for the sport earned her a spot on the Sichuan provincial team at age twelve, and the national team at fifteen. In 2017, grew up to be crowned crowned World Cup champion. Now both she and the world have again fallen ill. While Zhu and her teammates would normally be dominating at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, nothing is normal about 2020. With the Olympics postponed one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the China is staging a mock Olympics from August 8-21 to keep its table tennis team sharp. Ding Ning, #6 and Liu Shiwen, #4, have already announced they will miss the simulated Olympiad. Now Zhu Yuling, who is currently ranked #7 in world, will be forced to miss the faux festivities due to illness. This leaves China without three of its top six female players. According to women's head coach Li Sun, Zhu's illness caught everyone off guard. "Zhu Yuling recently had a sudden problem with her immune system," confirmed Li. "After going to the hospital for a system check, the hospital’s medical experts advised her to stay in hospital for further observation and treatment, so she could not participate in this competition." The 25-year-old star will stay in the hospital for the time being to rest and consult her medical team to form a plan for moving forward. Illness initially brought Zhu Yuling into table tennis as a young girl, and now illness has temporarily taken her out of it. We join the global table tennis community in wishing her a speedy recovery.

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