The classic country song "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" tells a whodunit tale of betrayal, murder and injustice. While not quite approaching this degree of Southern Gothic scandal, "The Day the Lights Went Out in Cancun" is nonetheless a memorable mystery with a lingering sense of justice unserved. To recap: It was Saturday, June 29. The 2019 ITTF Pan American Junior Championships were well underway in Cancun, Mexico. The USA junior squad was killing it, already having bagged gold in the junior girls' teams, junior boys' teams and mixed doubles events. Still unresolved were the junior boys' singles, junior girls' doubles and junior boys' doubles, all at the semifinal stage. The Stars and Stripes are playing in each of the six remaining semifinal matches, guaranteeing medals in each event and tantalizing with the very plausible prospect of a clean sweep of gold medals by the USA. Just as events were getting underway, the lights in the playing venue went out. No one has gone on record to say exactly what happened. Regardless the cause of the malfunction, the top juniors from the western hemisphere were denied a chance to finish what they had all traveled so many thousands of miles to do. In addition to the USA squad, players from Guatemala, Canada, Chile, Peru and Panama were also alive in the medal hunt. Now, thanks to the efforts of now-retired USATT High Performance Director Joerg Bitzigeio, the junior girls' singles event was brought to a satisfactory conclusion over two months after it began. Noticing that all four semifinalists were in Asunción, Paraguay for the 2019 Pan American Championships, calls were made and things got done. Picking up where she left off, the USA's Amy Wang defeated teammate Crystal Wang 4-2 in the semifinals. In the other semi, their teammate Rachel Sung emerged from a tough battle with Chile's Valentina Rios. Tied at 10-all in the deciding seventh game, Sung did not squander her long-awaited opportunity. In the final, Amy Wang got the better of her compatriot with a decisive 4-1 decision. With the gold, the USA is now 4-for-4 at the Pan Am Juniors. With the successful conclusion of this event, focus now turns to the World Junior Championships, to be held this November 24th-December 1st in Korat, Thailand. There, every effort will be made to bring the long-delayed Pan American Junior Championships to its official conclusion. The junior girls' doubles event is suspended in amber with Amy Wang and Crystal Wang in one half of the draw, and Rachel Sung and Rachel Yang on the other. The junior boys' singles are in cryogenic stasis with the USA's Nikhil Kumar and Victor Liu awaiting their respective semifinals matches. In the junior boys' doubles, encased in carbonite, Nikhil Kumar and Michael Minh Tran wait on one side of the draw, and Victor Liu and Sharon Alguetti on the other. This means that, once again, there is a chance Nikhil Kumar and Victor Liu would face each other for a gold medal. Congratulations to Amy Wang and all of Team USA! We wish them the best of luck as they (and, hopefully, Thailand's best electricians) prepare for Korat.

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