SHAH ALAM – For as long as she can remember, Zhang Wanling has lived in the shadow of her father, ex-national table tennis player Zhang Taiyong. And now, more than a decade after her dad - one of the pioneers of the Republic’s foreign sports talent scheme – first donned national colours for Singapore, the 16-year-old is ready to step out on her own.

The Singapore Sports School student-athlete, who is ranked 539th in the world – made her world championships debut on Sunday, playing the third singles match against Ukraine’s Ganna Gaponova (114). Despite claiming a game off her higher-ranked rival, she was eventually beaten 3-1.

“I was really proud stepping out onto the court, and I really enjoyed the match,” said Wanling.

“I haven’t had a chance to tell my dad yet. The world championships is one of the biggest competitions and I was very emotional when I was selected after the trials.”,

Like many children of famous sportsmen and celebrities, Wanling – who has an older brother who also plays the sport – had not always enjoyed being known as Zhang’s daughter. With his trademark flat-top hairstyle, Zhang – who is now a school and private coach – won three bronze medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in the men’s team, men’s doubles and mixed doubles, before adding two gold and a bronze at the SEA Games a year later.

His teammates included former national women’s head coach Jing Junhong, and Duan Yongjun.

The bubbly teenager laughed as she recounted her childhood experiences to TODAY: “When I was younger I was very proud because my father is Zhang Taiyong, but when I got older everybody compared me to him.

“The other coaches always say I’m Zhang Taiyong’s daughter and I don’t like them saying that, I want them to say he’s Zhang Wanling’s father! Although I don’t like it, I’m still proud of it.”

Nevertheless, Wanling - who won the girls’ Under-15 singles gold at last year’s Dr Ng Eng Hen – Singapore Table Tennis Association Championships – will be happy to walk in her father’s footsteps in the future. The teenager, who is part of the SSP’s School-Within-A-School programme hopes to represent Singapore at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018, and join SSP alumnae Isabelle Li in the national team eventually.

But for now, she is happy to just soak in her experience at the world championships.

“I’m really inspired by my older teammates Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu. They have so much perseverance, even when they’re down.

“I’m one of the weakest players at the world champs, but I hope to learn the skills and attitude of the better players.”

There is one player who she hopes to beat eventually: her coach and dad. “I still can’t beat him, but when he grows old, I can!” she quipped.