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PHILADELPHIA -- For the first time ever, the Womens Table Tennis World Cup is coming to the U.S., bringing 20 top-ranked players from powerhouses such as Singapore, Japan and Germany to Philadelphia.Its so cool; its absolutely amazing, said Lily Zhang, one of two Americans competing. Im so excited that we can finally host the World Cup. Thats huge, you know.Stakes are high. After the Olympics, the World Cup is one of the most prestigious titles in pingpong, and winners will split a $150,000 prize pool.I really want to win, said Elizabeta Samara, 27, a Romanian player seeded 10th in the tournament. Yes, I also want to enjoy, but enjoying not just for fun, you know?Among the competitors are Olympians, a 15-year-old from Japan, a Korean player coached by her mother since the age of six and eight players fresh to the tournament. They will be smashing pingpong balls at speeds of over 60 miles an hour. The players will be whittled down to one champion over six rounds and three days.China has won every World Cup since the tournament began 20 years ago, but because of injuries, it wont be participating. That means a different country will now have the opportunity to snag the title.I expect everybodys level of all the countries to be very close, said Lily Yip, coach of the American team. Maybe our U.S. team can win. You never know.Table tennis has enjoyed an uptick in popularity over the past few decades, but recently, player numbers have been stagnating, dropping from over 19 million in 2010 to around 16.5 million last year, according to USA Table Tennis.Many Americans dont understand that pingpong is actually a very difficult, very high-level sport, Yip said. They still think of it as a basement sport.Tournament organizers are optimistic the World Cup will breathe new life into the game, proving its worthy of more than just a casual round or two.I think that if we can pack this place, well have no choice but to bring this tournament back here, said Gordon Kaye, CEO of USA Table Tennis, one of the sponsors of the event.Matches will be played over the weekend, with the final showdown scheduled for Sunday night. Vans Old Skool Black . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Vans Sk8 Hi Reissue . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-old-skool-sale.html . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Vans Old Skool Black Sale . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Vans Shoes Clearance . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Derek Mason isnt concerned about his Vanderbilt Commodores being the first Southeastern Conference team to play a football game on Western Kentuckys campus.He is concerned about how tough it will be to get a win.The teams are separated by about 70 miles and WKU left Nashville last year with a 14-12 win en route to a 12-2 season. The Hilltoppers are looking for back-to-back wins in this series when they host the Commodores Saturday in Bowling Green, Kentucky.Its a backyard brawl anytime you play Middle Tennessee, you play Western Kentucky, Mason said. Those borders are extremely tight, so these football teams are going to go to war. ... Lets go do what we do and have fun.WKU (2-1) wants to take advantage of its first true home game against an SEC opponent.The Hilltoppers were the home team against Kentucky in two neutral-site meetings in Nashville and won both times. This contest will be in 22,113-seat Houchens-Smith Stadium, and WKU coach Jeff Brohm expects a charged atmosphere he hopes his team feeds off of.Any time you can bring in an opponent of this caliber from this conference, you have to come ready to play and put on a good display, Brohm said this week. We need to go out there and make the most of it.WKU is facing its second SEC school in three weeks. The Hilltoppers lost 38-10 at No. 1 Alabama on Sept. 10 but bounced back last weekend with a 31-24 non-conference win at Miami (Ohio) -- albeit one in which they nearly blew a 24-3 lead.Brohm stressed that the Hilltoppers must be better against a Vanderbilt squad that matches up well against them.The Commodores (1-2) are coming off a 38-7 loss at Georgia Tech , and this second stop in a two-game road swing is crucial with Vanderbilt hosting Florida on Oct. 1. Vanderbilts lone win was a 47-24 rout of Middle Tennessee on Sept. 10, and the Commodores can finish off the other Conference USA opponent on their schedule if they can find a way to shut down WKUs high-flying offense.---Some other things to look for Saturday:THROWING DEEP: Masson calls the defense for Vanderbilt and is looking forward to the challenge against a Hilltoppers team that likes throwing the ball downfield.dddddddddddd. Thats coach Brohms personality, and I like it, Mason said. Its fun to coach against. Its fun to defense. I think our guys are going to have something for Western Kentucky, and theyre going to have something for us.KEEP RUSHING: Freshman Quinton Bakers 103-yard effort at Miami helped WKU break the century mark in rushing for the first time this season. Brohms goal is getting more from the ground game to shift pressure off of QB Mike White, an approach that has even involved using wide receivers such as Taywan Taylor, who just became WKUs career receptions leader.STOP WEBB: Vanderbilt junior running back Ralph Webb, just picked as one of two captains for the season, leads the SEC in rushing with 377 yards thanks largely to a career-best 211 yards rushing against Middle Tennessee. He is averaging 125.7 yards per game this season, and Webb leads the SEC with 154.7 all-purpose yards.PASSING FANCY: Quarterback Kyle Shurmur keeps finding ways to improve each game for Vanderbilt, and the sophomore is coming off his best game this season. He completed a career-high 17 passes in the loss to Georgia Tech where he threw for a season-high 149 yards. He also has touchdown passes now in consecutive games for the first time in his young career.GET TO WHITE: Western Kentucky has allowed only five sacks, while Vanderbilt has only gotten two through two games. The Commodores see White as less mobile than the quarterbacks theyve faced from South Carolina and Georgia Tech. Hopefully ... if we focus on technique and our assignments, we can rack up a couple sacks this game, Vanderbilt defensive lineman Adam Butler said.---AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.---AP College Football: collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '