As a senior member of the national table tennis team, Yu Mengyu has been to major events like the world championships numerous times.

Yet, for someone just making her comeback after a long injury lay-off, everything - from basic strokes she has spent her life perfecting, to her state of mind during a tournament - is feeling unfamiliar.

The 27-year-old underwent surgery on her shoulder last November, and only recently got back to training. Last month's Korea Open was Yu's first tournament since last August's Rio Olympic Games, and she was beaten in her opening match by Japan's Minami Ando.

"I'm still getting used to things following my surgery," said Yu yesterday, a day before departing for the May 29-June 5 World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany.

"I've made some adjustments during the centralised training we just had, but I need to get a few more competitive matches in, in order to get back my coordination and the rhythm of things."

The team spent the last three weeks in a centralised training camp in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.

Yu was speaking on the sidelines as the national table tennis team visited the National University Hospital's Children's Cancer Centre yesterday, spending time to bring some cheer to the staff working there.

Such community outreach activities have become a tradition for the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), which makes it a point to do similar activities before its national paddlers leave for the world championships.

Another unfamiliarity Yu will have to cope with in Germany will be reprising her doubles partnership with Feng Tianwei, almost 20 months after the last time they had competed together as a pair.

Feng is no longer part of the national set-up after the STTA excluded her from the team last October, but the world No. 4 remains the Republic's top paddler and continues to compete for Singapore. She is already in Dusseldorf in preparation for the tournament.

Yu and Feng are, however, a proven pair, having won bronzes at the last two editions in 2013 and 2015. The world championships are held every year but alternate between individual and team events.

Yu, seeded 11th with Feng, said: "There isn't any unusual pressure, but we haven't competed together for about two years, so we don't have a good seeding. The draw will not be very favourable but we will still set our sights on a medal."

The Singapore team will be made up mostly of local-born players, with Tan En Hui the sole debutante.

Competing in an event second only to the Olympics, the 17-year-old said there are bound to be nerves.

"The training (in Kaohsiung) was a bit more tiring than before, but I learnt a lot tactically and technically. Of course, I will feel very nervous, but I try to calm myself down through things like today's event to help take my mind off it," she added.

"I want to try to beat higher-ranked players so that I can gain more ranking points."

STTA president Ellen Lee said part of the aim of taking the paddlers out to meet with people they do not usually come across is to change their perspective when it comes to stress.

She said: "They always feel that they're the only ones under tremendous stress, but there are people in the medical profession for example who are fighting to save lives under pressure.

"This is a good lesson that, even under extreme circumstances, they should never give up.

"While we hope that there would be at least a medal from the world championships, what we want is for the (players) to undergo this experience and find out how to cope and prepare when they're up against opponents from all over the world."