Two teams enter, one team leaves. (For Tokyo, that is.) While it might not literally be mortal combat, the upcoming North American Olympic Trials nonetheless possess the frisson of a life-or-death contest. To be held Saturday, October 5 in Rockford, Illinois, the matchups of the USA and Canada women's and men's teams carry major implications. The winning teams will receive automatic bids to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Today, USATT High Performance announced the team lineups. On game day, each team will field three players and one alternate. The USA women's squad will consist of Wu Yue (pictured), Lily Zhang, Amy Wang and Liu Juan, all to be coached by Gao Jun. Their counterpart contingent of countrymen comprises Kanak Jha, Nikhil Kumar, Zhou Xin and Feng Yijun, operating under the guidance of Stefan Feth. The Rockford tournament represents the first time the North American Olympic Trials will have been held in the United States since 2012. While Team USA will enjoy the support of its home crowd, this can also exert added pressure on the less experienced players. A great deal of strategy informs the coaches' decisions of whom to play, and in what order. Canada has yet to release its roster, but expect women's world #22 Zhang Mo to figure prominently. Canada's leading man is Jeremy Hazin. Like American ace Kanak Jha, Hazin is all of 19. No, it isn't Thunderdome. With national pride and a trip to the Olympics on the line, it's even bigger. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Rockford Trials.

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