It was a match they will both remember forever, but for very different reasons. If you want to witness some prime drama, set your DeLorean for August 10, 2019. (If you are not already in Lima, Peru, dial the date back as many days as necessary to allow for travel time.) There, you will find the conclusion of the women's team event at the 2019 Pan American Games. Finalists Brazil and Puerto Rico were deadlocked at two matches apiece in the best-of-five final. Brazil's Bruna Takahashi (pictured, right) led Puerto Rico's Melanie Diaz (left), two games to nil. In the third game, Diaz secured the first game point at 10-9. Takahashi then tied it at what would be the first of six deuces in the fateful game. Back and forth they went. Takahashi held a total of four match points, each with the serve, but could convert none of them. Ultimately, was who Diaz who converted her third game point, 17-15, en route to a comeback win which secured the gold medal for Puerto Rico. Melanie Diaz, so often the cheerleader to her more decorated younger sister Adriana, was finally the heroine of her homeland. In the zero-sum world of competitive sports, however, Diaz' joy came at the expense of Takahashi. One athlete's comeback is another's collapse, and Takahashi certainly never forgot the pain in Peru. As fate would have it, it would only be a matter of time until these two world-class athletes would cross paths, and swords, once again. You can save your Libyan plutonium for a rainy day, as the rematch is tomorrow (March 8, 2021, if you happen to be reading this in the future). The setting is the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender in Doha, Qatar. Once again, please factor in travel time. By a fluke of seeding, the world #47 Takahashi and #68 Diaz are paired together in the opening round of 64. Whoever advances will face world #26 Bernadette Szocs of Romania, who received a bye into the round of 32. As with last week's WTT Contender, the top two seeds are Mima Ito of Japan and Cheng I-Ching of Taiwan (DBA Chinese Taipei). Ito, for her part, more than justified the hype, winning the first ever WTT title on Saturday. Owing to the secure "bubble" format of the WTT Middle East Hub, the men's draw is also eerily familiar, with Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Brazil's Hugo Calderano once again heading the list. Harimoto and Calderano will look to avoid the upsets which cost them their shots at the first title, claimed by Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany. With professional goals and personal vendettas spurring them on, will be no shortage of motivation for any of the competitors tomorrow. It only remains to be seen who can summon the requisite gigawatts.

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