"Tell me with whom you associate," wrote Goethe, "and I will tell you who you are." While you prepare your answer, let us now turn our attention to the resumption of international table tennis competition. Today in Wehai, China, the 2020 ITTF Women's World Cup shifted into the knockout rounds. Among those still standing were the Yankee delegates, Wu Yue and Lily Zhang. Both had finished higher than seeded in their qualifying groups to graduate to the sweet 16. Wu, ranked 32nd in the world, drew Cheng I-Ching, the world #8 from Chinese Taipei. This time, Wu could not produce more than five points in any game, let alone another upset. Nevertheless, it was a most successful run for the 30-year-old to even attend the World Cup, let alone qualify for the knockout brackets. For Lily Zhang, the expectations were set a little higher after a stellar 2019 when she stunned the world to reach the World Cup semifinals, losing to champion-elect Liu Shiwen. In the bronze medal match, Zhang came up short as the veteran Feng Tianwei of Singapore, world #9, secured the podium finish in five games. As fate would have it, the two would meet again, this time with both still in contention for the gold. Zhang, a student of the game, has tremendous respect for Feng, the onetime world #2 who at 34 is ten years her senior. Once the ball is in play, however, there can be only one. Zhang came out firing in game one, whipping backhands and crushing forehands cross-court seemingly at will. Feng was most effective firing forehands inside-out to Zhang's backhand, but could not establish a rhythm under Zhang's relentless pressure. At game point, Zhang showed her all-around game, using a forehand chop-block to set up a forehand winner down the line. Momentum established, Zhang kept her foot on the gas, racing out to a 3-0 lead. With the finish line in sight, however, Zhang suddenly heard a throaty rumble behind her, as Feng finally got her muscle car in gear. The veteran Feng quickly made up ground with two straight wins, using better footwork to fire step-around inside-out forehands from the backhand corner. In game six, Feng led 10-7, with game points to level the match. Zhang, serving, erased one with a well-placed short backspin to Feng's forehand, eliciting an error when Feng flicks it long. With two serves for Feng, few would have predicted the following sequence of events. At 10-8, Zhang backhand flicks the serve down the line, catching Feng out of position. Maintaining her backhand attack, she erases another game point. At 10-9, the same strategy yields an easy forehand "4th ball attack," squaring the game at deuce. At deuce, Zhang's serve again tricks Feng into flicking long, giving her match point. Feng, serving, launches a backhand fusillade to square the game. Zhang again serves short to Feng's forehand, hoping for another free point. While the veteran makes the necessary adjustments to land it on the table, it is easy pickings for Zhang's backhand, earning a second match point. Feng, serving to stay alive, places the ball short to Zhang's forehand. Zhang's push catches the net, and Feng manages to push it back. It is just long enough, however, for Zhang to drop her paddle beneath the table for a slow, spinny backhand loop. When Feng's forehand flies foul, an incredulous Zhang raises her hand in apology for the net ball, the routine motion of etiquette belying the greater significance of the moment. "I didn’t expect the results today. I played her in the third place match last year; she is an incredible player, someone I have looked up to," said Zhang. "I have watched a lot of her matches growing up and to have the chance to play her and win against her was really incredible for me." With the win, Zhang earned a spot in the quarterfinals with top seed Chen Meng of China. Fairy tale aficionados will be disappointed to learn that the Cinderella story stopped here, the world #1 Chen steamrolling Zhang in straight sets. For her part, even the indomitable Chen Meng acknowledged Zhang's rapid ascent to the world's elite. "Even though I won 4-0, every single game was not easy for me," allowed Chen. "During the match there were a lot of ups and downs and I thought it was important that I was able to adjust during the match. Lily’s improvement has been huge." For Zhang, however, it was all gravy at that point. "I didn’t even expect to win this match and to play against Chen Meng," said Zhang. "After all she is world number one. I am just happy to be able to play against her and I will try to learn from it." At the end of the day, it's really about the company you keep. If Lily Zhang insists on hanging out with the world's top players, eventually it will cease to be surprising that she is clearly one of them.

More at ITTF