Last summer saw the stateside debut of the T2 Challenge, a "virtual" tournament pitting North America's top players against each other in a novel team format. In a year which saw the postponement of the Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the T2 Challenge allowed elite players to stay sharp despite the suspension of international play. Now, back by popular demand, comes the T2 Challenge: Season 2. Culminating Tuesday and Wednesday in Pleasantville, New York's Westchester Table Tennis Center, the finals motivated players with $43,000 in prize money. The tournament offered many a tune-up for the upcoming US National Championships in Las Vegas. For others, such as Californians Lily Zhang and Xin Zhou, it doubled as Olympic preparation. In March of 2020, Xin Zhou (pictured) won a spot on the 2020 US Men's Olympic Team at the USATT team trials in Santa Monica, California. Now 32, it appears Zhou is maintaining his Olympic form. In this season's T2 Challenge final, Zhou went undefeated in the group stage. In the semifinals, he defeated Kai Zhang, ranked second in the world among American men, 4-1. The other semifinal pitted New Jersey's acrobatic defender Jian Li against Canadian Olympian Jeremy Hazin. Trailing 2-3, Li came back to win the last two games, each by a dominant 11-2 score. Despite his tenacious defense, Zhou gave Li the same brusque treatment as everybody else in the final. With a 4-0 win, Zhou Xin was crowned the T2 Challenge: Season 2 champion, and awarded the princely sum advertised in the picture. For the sake of Team USA, we hope his excellent form carries on in Tokyo.

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