Napoleon learned the hard way not to linger in Russia with winter on its way. Only slightly less disastrous was the American contingent's recent campaign in Canada. The battle in question was the 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open. Held at the Markham Pan Am Centre in Ontario, the tournament saw six brave Americans throw their hats in the ring. Three gentlemen from the United States made the journey. All three yankees, fittingly, came from New York. Unseeded, each needed a win in the preliminary round to advance to the 64-player elimination bracket. Kai Zhang, ranked #191 in the world, faced China's Ren Hao, listed at world #1,141. Despite Zhang's apparent advantage, Ren prevailed 4-0. Yijun Feng, the ITTF's 762nd-ranked player, also faced a Chinese opponent. 16-year-old Xiang Peng, listed at world #228, avoided the upset with a straight-set victory over Feng. The American men's last hope was Mishel Levinski, the pride of Brooklyn, unranked in the ITTF but with a USATT rating of 2550 (compared to Feng's 2640 and Zhang's 2669). Levinski drew Jules Rolland of France, and the world #231 Frenchman showed his world-class pedigree with a sweep of Levinski. China's Xiang Peng, world #228, eventually emerged the surprise men's singles champion. The US women fared a little better. Wang Chen, ranked #788 in the world, advanced to the main draw with a 4-0 win over Canada's Wang Xingyang, currently unranked but listed as high as #392 in 2015. Once in the main event, Wang fell 4-1 to the tenacious defense of Japan's Hitomi Sato, no slouch at #17 in the world. The next American woman up to bat was Liu Juan, the two-time US Open champion listed at #591 in the world. Unseeded, she drew a bye to the main draw where she met Italy's Debora Vivarelli, a huge favorite at world #69. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Liu produced the needed numbers to register the upset and advance with a 4-0 win. Unfortunately, she was the next in line to be chopped down by eventual semifinalist Hitomi Sato. That left 29-year-old Wu Yue (pictured), the only seeded American player by virtue of her #33 world ranking. Her first match pitted her against home favorite Katherine Morin, the 15-year-old Canadian ranked #1,058 in the world. Wu Yue's vast experiential advantage produced an easy win against the promising young Canadian, as well as a spot in the round of 32. There, Wu met Wang Xiaotong of China, a 19-year-old ranked world #550. The match went back and forth, splitting the first four games until the Chinese teenager claimed the pivotal fifth game, 13-11. Wu Yue fought hard to stay alive in the sixth game but could only manage eight points as Wang advanced to the sweet 16. World #10 Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan, the top seed, would eventually claim the women's singles title. Despite their eventual losses, each American fought hard and gained essential experience in international competition, sure to pay dividends for Team USA in the future. Eventually, we all meet our Waterloo.

More at ITTF