Lin Yun-ju answers most questions about his remarkable season with a shy grin and a softly uttered "I don't know", but the 18-year-old certainly knows how to win.
The Chinese Taipei paddler, who is only in his second year on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) senior circuit, has let his bat do the talking.
He beat Olympic and world champion Ma Long and world No. 1 Fan Zhendong en route to victory at the Seamaster T2 Diamond Malaysia in July and, a month later, won his first ITTF World Tour men's singles title at the Czech Open.
The left-hander, now ranked 10th in the world, told The Straits Times yesterday: "I've improved on my mental game this year so when I'm competing on court, I can adapt better."
Lin, in Singapore for the second and final stop of the T2 Diamond Table Tennis League, even skipped the pre-tournament press conference at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport so that he could focus on training.
He feels he has not improved much in the technical aspects but, when reminded of the scalps he has claimed this year, the teenager quipped: "My luck has been good."
He is still getting used to the increased attention from the media and the table tennis fraternity, though he said: "At first I felt more pressure but I don't think so much about it. I slowly adjusted (to the increased scrutiny) and just let it be."
German Patrick Franziska, who has never played against Lin in singles but beat him in men's doubles at the World Tour Platinum China Open in May, told ST: "He takes the ball very early and he doesn't give you much time. And already for his young age, he is playing quite smart and he's a clever player.
"He actually has everything needed to be a top player."
While eyeing a second T2 title at the Nov 21-24 event at Our Tampines Hub, Lin's immediate focus is on tomorrow's opener against South Korean Jang Woo-jin, to whom he lost at the ITTF Team World Cup in Japan this month.
It was the pair's first meeting and he has been anticipating the re-match. He arrived in Singapore on Monday night and practised for about three hours the next day, after which he spent the rest of the day analysing his opponent's game.
"I'll analyse more tonight and tomorrow. I have to strengthen my return of serve," he added.
"My target for now is to play my first match well."
World No. 16 Franziska's goal is the same. He opens his campaign against South Korean Lee Sang-su and will face Lin if both win.
"Hopefully this match will come... every point counts (in this format) so you try to be extra focused and not give a single point away, that's my main goal," said the 27-year-old.
The Singapore stop offers a total prize purse of US$500,000 (S$680,000) and ITTF ranking points. The women's field is led by world No. 1 Chen Meng, T2 Diamond Malaysia winner Zhu Yuling and Olympic bronze medallist Mima Ito of Japan, who at No. 7 is the highest-ranked non-Chinese.
In the T2 Diamond series for the world's top 16 men and women, players have 24 minutes to win four out of seven games in a first-to-11 format with no deuce. After that, a Fast5 (first to five) format applies.
