Well, there's good news and bad news. For those of us living vicariously through American men's singles champion Kanak Jha (pictured) as he flies the Stars and Stripes around the world, his current campaign in the German Bundesliga is a mixed bag. Under contract with TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen, Jha bats third after Brazil's Hugo Calderano (world #6) and Simon Gauzy of France (world #20). The Bundesliga is a dauntingly elite league, second only in the world to China's Table Tennis Super League. Many Bundesliga teams feature starting lineups which rival the world's strongest national teams (excepting China, of course, which is in a league of its own). The good news is that Jha's club, Ochsenhausen, bested TTC Neu-Ulm on Friday. With the win, Ochsenhausen officially secured one of the playoff spots reserved for the top four teams in the 12-team league. The bad news is that, barring a miraculous playoff run, the 20-year-old Jha will not be named MVP. Jha, Ochsenhausen's third-ranked player at world #28, has gone a miserable 4-14 in the league. Meanwhile, younger Polish teammate Samuel Kulczycki, ranked 360th in the world, has been campaigning to start for Ochsenhausen. The 18-year-old Kulczycki recently turned heads with a 3-0 upset of world #40 Emmanuel Lebesson, the captain of rival squad Neu-Ulm. Kulczycki has gone 6-7 in the league, a mediocre record but one which might appear appealingly consistent compared to Jha's. While it is not entirely fair to compare records, as players are often strategically pitted against stronger or weaker players, numbers don't lie. While Kulczycki's 46% win rate is essentially a coin flip, Jha's 22% return on investment is a tougher trail to table tennis triumph than tallying tails twice. With a few weeks to go before the playoffs, Ochsenhausen will have to balance playing time for its grizzled veterans and eager greenhorns. Jha's squad is currently tied for second with FC Saarbrucken, the Patrick Franziska-led team it will face in the semifinals. Timo Boll's top-seeded Borussia Düsseldorf still does not know who will emerge as the distant fourth seed, and semifinal opponent, but they are likely to lose little sleep over it. If Ochsenhausen advances to the finals, Jha could redeem himself on one of the world's biggest stages. The question is, will he be entrusted with a chance to do so?

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