It was billed as the latest showdown in the timeless battle between youth and experience. Spoiler alert: It doesn't bode well for champions of the former. The occasion was the fifth installment of the "Thursday Night Live: T2 Challenge." Billed as "America's first virtual table tennis challenge," the series has produced pyrotechnics between some of America's top players, each chosen to represent either Team Butterfly or Team Nittaku. The loser of each week's match chooses one teammate from the next week's matchup, theoretically promoting parity. In the game-changing "T2" format, players race the clock and play each game to sudden death, no deuce required. The first four editions took place in New York's Westchester Table Tennis Center, and saw Team Butterfly take a 3-1 lead over Team Nittaku. For the fifth episode, the action shifted south to the Houston International Table Tennis Academy. There, 18-year-old shakehand player Michael Tran faced 40-year-old penholder Huijing Wang, who qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this February. After losing to Jennifer Wu in the last match, Team Butterfly's Tahl Leibovitz had his pick of talented Texans for a teammate. Citing mental toughness as the key criterion, Leibovitz caught Huijing Wang in the Buttefly net. At first, it seemed clear that Leibovitz had chosen wisely, as Wang won the first game easily, 11-4. Employing the traditional Chinese one-sided penhold game, Wang blasted forehands at will as Tran scrambled for answers. Then, in game two, Tran regained his composure and began to orchestrate an offensive strategy. Using the reverse pendulum serve, Tran found success using the sidespin to set up his deadly forehand loop-kill down the line. By taking the initiative earlier in the points, Tran built an 8-7 lead. Then, a rapid sequence illustrated proved Leibovitz prescient. With Tran serving at 8-7, he attempted his new stratagem of the reverse pendulum serve to set up his forehand. Wang, however, read the young man's game plan perfectly. With a backhand punch to his wide forehand, Wang used Tran's own sidespin to redirect the ball out of his reach. After two quick service winners, Wang suddenly held game two out of Tran's reach, capitalizing on the first game point for a 2-0 lead. She never looked back, running out the match (11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4) to give Team Butterfly a commanding 4-1 lead. Tran will console himself with the privilege of picking the next Team Nittaku member, as the action shifts to the renowned India Community Center in Milpitas, California. He faces a hard choice between 2020 US Olympic Team members Nikhil Kumar and Zhou Xin. Huijing Wang, a native of Tianjin, China, proved that the traditional Chinese penhold style is still effective. Her old-school backhand punches kept Tran off-balance all match, turning the perceived weakness of her style into a major advantage. Only twice throughout the match did she employ the modern reverse penhold backhand, although she did win the point each time. Thus, Wang has successfully incorporated modern trends without conceding to them. For Michael Tran, as with those keeping score in the age-old battle of youthful vigor versus old age and treachery, at the end of they day they can simply chalk it up to experience.

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