2012 Olympian Zhang and teen Alguetti qualify at table tennis trials

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The 2012 Olympian Lily Zhang and teenager Sharon Alguetti won the second qualifying tournament at the U.S. Olympic Table Tennis Trials on Friday at the Greensboro Special Events Center.

In the women's final Zhang defeated Ying Lu 11-6, 9-11, 11-8 11-5 and Alguetti beat Kanak Jha 11-4, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9.

They now advance to the North American Trials in Markham, Ontario in April and the final qualifying step for the Rio Olympics.

The men's final was a look into the promising of future of U.S. men's table tennis and a high energy  42-minute slugfest between the 14-year-old Alguetti of Tenafly, N.J. and Jha, 15, of Milpitas. Ca.. Alguetti had lost in the first qualifying tournament final on Thursday but that experience proved to be the winning edge.

"Yesterday I was a little more nervous, tonight I felt a bit more free, " said Alguetti. "I think he was more nervous than I was out there. I had never beaten him before and told myself to fight and work hard and give it all I had."

Zhang was a member of the gold medal winning U.S. Pan American Games team last summer. She is also a two-time U.S. National women's champion in 2012 and '14.

"It's an absolutely amazing feeling to have the Stars and Stripes on your chest, a very humbling feeling," said Zhang, 19, of Palo Alto, Ca. "I was only 16 when I played in 2012 and I feel that I have matured and am a more experienced player now."

Zhang needed just 36 minutes to beat the left-handed Lu, 36, who was also the loser in the opening qualifying tournament final on Thursday.

"It was definitely not as easy a match as the scores look," said Zhang. "There were not a lot of rallies and I had to really use a lot of strategy out there."

Jha and Alguetti were extended to the full seven-game limit in grueling semifinals.  Jha held off Krish Avvari taking the final game 11-8 and Alguetti beat Michael Landers 11-6 in the deciding game.

Past Olympians Chen Wang and Timothy Wang had qualified on the opening day of the three-day competition that concludes on Saturday.