"None of us wants to be judged by our worst act on our worst day, and we constantly judge Burr for that. He was not a perfect man, but he's not a villain. He's a dude, just a guy." Thus spake Leslie Odom, Jr., the actor who has spent years inhabiting the headspace of Aaron Burr in the mega-smash Broadway musical, "Hamilton." Indeed, it is an interesting thought experiment to consider how we each might be viewed through such an unforgiving lens. Now, if we can all please momentarily suspend our rush to judgment, let us consider the developments in Doha. There in Qatar is where we find the long-awaited resumption of official, International Table Tennis Federation-sanctioned international table tennis competition. On Sunday, a series of events collectively christened the World Table Tennis (WTT) Middle East Hub got underway. The WTT Middle East Hub enforces strict COVID-19 protocols, operating as a "bubble" environment to maintain the safest environment possible under the circumstances. The inaugural event of 2021 is the WTT Contender. In both the women's and men's singles competitions, the eight scrappiest qualifiers joined the 24 seeded players in the respective draws. One of those seeded players in the men's draw was Wang Yang (pictured), a 26-year-old Chinese-Slovakian chopper. Ranked 34th in the world, Wang was seeded 18th at the WTT Contender. Yesterday, at 3:35 p.m. local time, Wang was scheduled to play Joao Geraldo, a 25-year-old qualifier from Portugal ranked 93rd in the world, in the opening round of 32. The the result was that Geraldo advanced to the sweet 16, where he went the distance with world #21 Quadri Aruna of Nigeria. Geraldo's advancement in and of itself was not terribly surprising, considering he advanced to the main draw by dint of four straight upsets, including a signature win over German chopper Ruwen Filus, ranked 42nd in the world. Rather, it was the manner in which Geraldo advanced over Wang which is making news. It was not Geraldo's loops and drop shots which bested the chopper, but Wang's self-inflicted damage which cost him a shot at the title. According to WTT, Wang violated COVID-19 protocols and was disqualified from the WTT Contender. His match was deemed a walkover, allowing Geraldo to advance. This is not to judge or shame Wang Yang, a young man who simply made a mistake and has already paid for it. In order for table tennis and other sports to resume, however, strict adherence to health and safety protocols is required by all participants. WTT allows that Wang is eligible to compete in the next event, the WTT Star Contender starting Friday, provided he complies with all health protocols moving forward. Like any of us, Wang Yang is not perfect, nor is he a villain. He's a dude, just a guy, one who is unlikely to throw away his shot again.

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