Big things are happening. Yes, don't look now, but the World Team Championships, US National Championships, the Olympics and World Cups are all on the horizon in 2020. With so much going on, preparation is key. That is one of many reasons you will find the USA's top players honing their skills against the best of the best at every opportunity. Currently, you will find the reigning US national singles champions warming up in Budapest for the ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open. Five-time US national women's singles champ Lily Zhang has already punched her tickets to the year's aforementioned marquee events. Kanak Jha, winner of the last four US men's singles titles, is close behind but missed out on a chance to qualify for the World Cup earlier this month at the Pan American Cup. Both Zhang and Jha stay sharp as professional players in German leagues. While this provides excellent training, the ITTF World Tour events offer the highest level of play outside of the "grand slam" events (Olympics, World Championships and World Cup). The relatively close proximity to Hungary was an enticing factor, not to mention invaluable experience, world ranking points and $170,000 in prize money. With Zhang and Jha ranked in the top 30 in the world, they have earned the privilege of being seeded in the main draw while hundreds of players battle to join them in the main draw. Normally, both American champions would be on the outside looking in. These, however, are not normal times, as you have surely noticed. Case in point: the entire Chinese team is in self-imposed exile, avoiding the coronavirus by staying in Qatar in preparation for next month's Qatar Open. The eerie absence of Chinese names from the roster has bumped every one else's seeding up significantly. Each sitting on the 12th out of 16 seeds, Jha and Zhang await to see who emerges from the preliminary rounds, hungry for a shot at glory. Zhang and Jha will each need two wins to exceed their seedings and finish within the top eight. Of course, each has loftier ambitions. For true champions such as these, ending on a loss is unacceptable.

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