Things are getting dramatic over in Deutschland. Pan-Am champs Kanak Jha and Hugo Calderano are more than capably representing the Western Hemisphere in the German Table Tennis National League. Their club, TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, is currently tied for second in the league, with the four-team playoffs just around the corner. Team captain Calderano, the Brazilian world #6, is the top-rated player in the league, boasting a stunning 14-1 record this season. Frenchman Simon Gauzy, world #20, occupies Ochsenhausen's second seat. Jha, the American champion ranked #28 globally, bats third. The team to beat in the league is Borussia Düsseldorf. Led by Germany's world #10 Timo Boll, Düsseldorf needs only one more win to secure the top seed in the playoffs. Ochsenhausen was in no mood to help in the quest, upsetting Düsseldorf 3-2 on Friday. In a way, the whole league pivots on Timo Boll's spine. If this sounds painful, it is. Boll's bad back has limited both his playing time and his effectiveness. In his last match against Neu-Ulm, Boll blew a 2-0 lead against Portugal's world #57 Tiago Apolonia. While this is not an earth-shattering upset, it definitely gives underdogs hope that they too could upset the champ. With Boll's health in question, the timing may be right for the Pan-Am tandem to make their move. Hugo Calderano has already signed to take his talents to TTC Fakel-Gazprom, Russia's top club, starting in July. This may be Kanak Jha's best shot at the league title. With the top two male players from the Western Hemisphere on the same team, giving it their all, anything can happen in the German League. With any luck, it will.

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