Lily Zhang is playing with house money. The reigning US national women's singles champion was fortunate to receive a wild card entry to the 2019 ITTF Women’s World Cup in Chengdu, China. Once there, world #49 Zhang upset the order in her qualifying group, leapfrogging world #27 Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico to advance to the final 16. There, she Zhang was paired with 2016 World Cup champion Miu Hirano of Japan. Zhang blazed out to a great start, winning the first two games, only to watch the world #9 fight back and win the next three with identical 11-8 scores. With the best-of-seven match hanging in the balance, Zhang calmly regained her composure and won the last two games with decisive 11-5 scores. After her matchup with Hirano, Zhang said, "She is much higher than me in the world ranking, so I felt under no pressure at all. I just focused on my own game today." Reflecting further, Zhang recounted, "I led 2-0 which gave me a lot of confidence. When she won the next three games, I still believed that I had a chance and that I could come back. She is very fast, but I am speedy as well, so I feel very comfortable playing against her." With the win, Zhang was comfortably ensconced in the quarterfinals. There, she met Sofia Polcanova, the Austrian who had just defeated Zhang's compatriot Wu Yue in the round of 16. Polcanova, ranked #16 in the world, was yet another heavy favorite to send the American upstart packing. Once again, however, Lily jumped out to an early lead in her match. After trailing 1-2, Polcanova pulled ahead with two straight wins to put herself on the hill. "I was a bit distracted when I was leading 2-1 then fell behind 2-3," confided Lily afterward. "This was the toughest moment of the whole match, but I never gave up and remained confident that I could turn things around." Zhang indeed maintained her confidence, winning the last two games with 11-8 scores. "I could not believe it when her (Polcanova’s) last return hit the floor and the match was finally over," Zhang related. "I really did not expect that I could get this far in the tournament. I am just so happy right now." Next up is a semifinal matchup with reigning world champion Liu Shiwen of China. The world #5 Liu is currently tied with her countrywomen Wang Nan and Zhang Yining, each living legend owning four World Cup titles. The carefree Zhang, however, now threatens to derail Liu's quest for the record-breaking fifth World Cup. Granted a proverbial free roll with her wild card entry to the World Cup, Lily Zhang just keeps on winning. Not only is Zhang playing with house money, she threatens to break the casino.

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