"If I can make it there," sang Frank Sinatra, "I'll make it anywhere." While old blue eyes may have been referring to New York, New York, the sentiment would be equally applicable in Lingshui City, China. This month, the Hainan Province hub played host to the "Tokyo 2020 Preparation for China Table Tennis Team - Olympic Simulation Games," a dry run for the competition delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic. While no actual gold medals were at stake, any table tennis competition in China is a deadly serious affair. This practice camp, orchestrated by the Chinese Table Tennis Association, offered not only world-class practice for the players, but also a chance for the team's coaches to evaluate talent and readiness ahead of the actual games. In the women's draw, several heavy hitters were unable to compete. Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling were notably absent from the lineup, leaving China without three of its top six players. While this would be an unimaginable loss for any other team in the world, for China it hardly made a dent in their staggeringly deep and talented roster. Taking the best advantage of the opportunity were the finalists, Sun Yingsha (pictured), 19, and Wang Manyu, 21. The world #3 Sun, led world #5 Wang three games to nil, only to watch Wang storm back to force a deciding seventh game. With the imaginary gold medal on the line, Sun brought her "A" game to close out the match , 12-10, 11-9, 14-12, 6-11, 8-11, 13-15, 11-6. "Today’s game was very exciting," said Sun. "Both of us played at our best level. We are very familiar with each other. I felt that the game would definitely be very tough, prepared for the difficulties well; whether you in the lead or fall behind, you will go all out to fight for each point." Meanwhile, over in the men's singles draw, only one of the top three players secured a podium finish, world #1 Fan Zhendong finishing third. World #2 Xu Xin was the surprise victim of world #101 Xu Chenhao, while world #3 Ma Long was, less surprisingly, the victim a nagging neck injury. Into the power vacuum strode World #8 Liang Jingkun, and WR #12 Wang Chuqin. Liang, the relative veteran at 23, exploited what Ronald Reagan would call the "youth and inexperience" of Wang, 19. Seeing a 3-1 game lead start to slip away, Liang crushed Wang's comeback bid with a win at deuce in the sixth. While most players and fans would rather be in Tokyo for the Olympics right now, China has found a way to make the most of their situation. Their Olympic Simulation Games feature a level of talent unmatched by any team on earth. Therefore, a win in Lingshui City should carry the weight of the real gold it represents. If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.

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