In the beginning, the 2019 German Open was rife with Americans. USA women's team members Wu Yue and Lily Zhang made the trip to Bremen, Germany to compete with the best in the world. Four American men also made the trip, with Kanak Jha, Kai Zhang, Nicholas Tio and Michael Minh Tran in the draw. As none of the Americans was ranked high enough to be awarded one of the 16 seeded positions in the women's and men's singles, all would have to claw their way out of the crab pots known as the preliminary rounds to reach the knockout rounds. In her first matchup, world #49 Lily Zhang faced Singapore's Jian Zeng, ranked 104th. Despite her inferior ranking, it was Zeng who displayed the superior play, eliminating Zhang 4-1. Then it was world #35 Wu Yue's chance. Facing world #161 Wan Yuan of Germany, Wu disappointed the home fans by sending Wan packing, 4-2. Next up, she faces Qian Tianyi, the world #156 from China, for a spot in the finals of her qualifying bracket. In the men's qualifying rounds, Michael Minh Tranh was swept by Manav Vikash Thakkar of India. Nicholas Tio met a similarly ignominious fate at the hands of Croatia's Filip Zeljko. Kai Zhang was able to put up a better fight against the Czech Republic's Tomas Polansky, winning the first game 18-16 before succumbing in five. Polansky would go on to turn heads the next round by taking the legendary Vladimir Samsonov to the seventh game. This left world #22 Kanak Jha the last American man standing. His first opponent was Zokhid Kenjaev of Uzbekistan, ranked #149. In a back-and-forth match, Jha won the first and last games at deuce to advance in six, (13-11, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10). Next up, Jha will face Kazakhstan's Kirill Gerassimenko, ranked #72 in the world. A win there would put Jha in the finals of his group, one win away from the knockout rounds. With Wu Yue and Kanak Jha still in it to win it, they can at least count on the support of their vanquished compatriots as they continue their campaigns. While only one can wear the gold at the end, no one gets there alone.

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