As of late, Team USA has been on tour and on a tear. A week ago, both the women's and men's teams found themselves in Tokyo, preparing for the ITTF Team World Cup. Both teams would wind up advancing from their qualifying groups, only to lose to champions-elect China in their respective quarterfinals. With this recent high-level international training under their belts, many of the American players would proceed to the ITTF Austrian Open. This prestigious tournament is the final stop on the ITTF World Tour before the season-ending ITTF World Tour Grand Finals next month in Zhengzhou, China. From the USA women's team, Lily Zhang and Wu Yue (pictured) made the 5,728-mile trip from Tokyo to Linz, Austria. Seemingly unfazed by jet lag, each has maintained top form to advance in the preliminary rounds. Coming off a first-round bye, the world #33 Lily Zhang found herself matched up against the host nation's Liu Yuan. Currently unranked, the 34-year-old Liu reached a career-best world ranking of #125 in 2010. Although each game was decided my the minimum margin, Lily Zhang won them all to advance. Next, she will face Gu Yuting of China, listed at #54 in the world. Lily Zhang's teammate in Tokyo Wu Yue, world #37, also received a first-round bye. Then, she squared off against Lisa Lung, Belgium's top-ranked female player at world #134. The two would split the first two games before Wu Yue found her groove, advancing with a (11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-5) scoreline. Wu Yue now awaits Maria Xiao, at world #69 the highest-ranking Spanish woman. From the men's World Cup team, Kanak Jha (world #26) and Kai Zhang (#213) also made the trip to the homeland of Arnold Schwarzenegger. There, they were joined by compatriot Nicholas Tio (#234). In the first round, Kai Zhang met Spain's Jesus Cantero, a slight favorite at world #172. In an epic seesaw battle, the Spaniard would prevail in seven games. Nicholas Tio notched a solid international win in his first round, upsetting Chile's Juan Lamadrid (world #157) in a 4-1 decision. In the next round, Tio drew Sweden's Kristian Karlsson, a heavy favorite at world #25. True to form, Karlsson sent Tio packing in four straight games. This left Kanak Jha in the familiar position of being the last American man standing. After receiving a first-round bye, he faced up-and-coming Chinese penholder Xu Haidong (#202). After losing the first game, Jha strung together three straight to put himself on the hill. Xu would fight back in the fifth, however, extending the match and putting some pressure on his American opponent. Jha would right the ship, however, winning the final game 11-5 and the match 4-2. For his efforts, he awaits a date with Portugal's Thiago Apolonia, a dangerous 33-year-old veteran ranked 65th in the world. As Lily Zhang, Wu Yue and Kanak Jha await their next matches, their growing legions of American fans root for them to qualify for the playoff rounds. The show must go on.

More at ITTF