Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu graduate from Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu arrived at graduation as more than reigning stars of Chinese table tennis. The world No. 1 and world No. 2 wore academic gowns and posed with faculty and classmates at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, closing out their undergraduate work while remaining central figures in the sport’s biggest matches.

Both players belonged to SJTU’s undergraduate class of 2019 and completed human resource management studies at the university’s Antai College of Economics and Management. They entered through an exam-exemption scheme, a pathway that has drawn fresh attention because elite athletes are still expected to meet attendance standards and sit exams like regular students under SJTU’s sports-education integration model.

That model has long been part of the university’s identity, and the list of athlete alumni attached to it helps explain why Sun and Wang’s graduation carried so much weight. SJTU has counted Yao Ming, Ding Junhui, Pan Xiaoting, Wang Liqin and Liu Guoliang among its notable sports graduates, building a pipeline that links competitive excellence with formal education. For Sun and Wang, the academic credential adds a different kind of status to the one they have already earned at the table.

Their next step is expected to be postgraduate study at Tsinghua University, where the School of Social Sciences had tentatively admitted them into the class of 2026 sports studies program through an exam-exempt pathway. In the comprehensive evaluation used for admission, Sun scored 92.04 and Wang scored 89.44, reinforcing that both had cleared a demanding academic filter even as they stayed on top of world ranking lists. They are expected to begin master’s studies in September 2026.

The sporting record behind the ceremony is just as striking. At the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, Wang Manyu beat Sun Yingsha 4-2 in the women’s singles final, while the pair combined to win women’s doubles gold for China. Sun also took mixed doubles gold with Wang Chuqin. More recently, Sun defended her women’s singles world title in Doha on May 25, 2025, edging Wang 4-3 in another high-stakes final between the two.

Their graduation lands at the intersection of performance, reputation and public expectation. Sun and Wang have already proved they can dominate at the top level; the degree photos show how Chinese elite sport increasingly values the image of the champion who can also master the classroom, not just the scoreboard.