Almighty Coach

Holding the athlete’s report card in his hand, Ping Wang seemed hesitant.

"So difficult! Which should be chosen to attend the National Table Tennis Championship?" Shaking his head, Ping Wang continued, "Recently, all our athletes have improved a lot, and it seems that everyone is working hard! However, the number of participants is limited. I really don’t want to discourage them now."

Tao Lin, the assistant coach standing beside him said, "I think the new-come Coach Li is great. As far as I know, the entire team follows him to practice every night."

Ping Wang nodded. "It is true that our players have made significant improvement since Dai Li came here. As a coach, it is simple to ask players to practice overtime, but ordinary people can’t make all the players willing to do so. I am reluctant to let him go. Unfortunately, he came here to help us on secondment. He will return to the track and field team after the National Table Tennis Championship."

Ping Wang and Tao Lin both knew about the athletes’ practice, but they didn’t know the exact content of it. Both of them thought that Dai Li was a professional sports coach, and all the players were professional athletes, so the content of the practice must be professional training projects. How could they think of yoga?

Besides, in front of Ping Wang and Tao Lin, the athletes were embarrassed to say they were practicing yoga. After all, they were professional players and they were proud.

Tao Lin offered, "Coach Wang, why don’t we try to keep him here by offering him better conditions?"

"It’s quite impossible. The track and field team is also a major force of the sport field, and the influence and background of Weidong Chu cannot be ignored. What’s more, Dai Li has relations with the national track and field team. Sooner or later, he will enter the national team. We cannot be compared with the national team at all." Ping Wang sighed in disappointment and continued, "Forget about that. Now we should determine our players to attend the national championships. Tao Lin, what do you think?"

"I think Feng Zhu is definite to play. After all, he is the strongest on our team. And also, as a left-handed player, Da Liu is a good match for the doubles..." Tao Lin said without stopping.

The limit for each team was five male and five female players to participate in the National Table Tennis Championship. In the singles events, each team could only send two players. In the doubles events, each team could only send two groups, four players in all. In the team competition, the latest rule was a three-win system of five sets, with the third set being doubles and the others singles.

Since there were doubles events, left-handed players had a better chance of playing.

In the doubles of table tennis, it was more convenient for cooperation when one player used his right hand and the other his left hand. But most players used their right hand, so left-handed players were more likely to find a partner in doubles. Sometimes, an athlete’s skills were not excellent at all, but he had more chances to play because he was left-handed.

...

The National Table Tennis Championship was far more difficult than the Olympic Games or the World Table Tennis Championship.

In both the Olympic Games and the World Table Tennis Championship, the seed players would avoid competing with each other in advance in grouping. When attending the Olympic Games or the world championship, the national champion player might encounter an African player in the first round, an American player in the second round, a European player in the third round, a second-class Asian player in the fourth round, and a first-rate Asian player in the fifth round. The opponents gradually became stronger and stronger. In the semi-finals after five rounds competitions, which meant entering the medal circle, it was quite normal to encounter top players of Japan and Korea or even their own teammates in the national team.

In such competition with opponents becoming gradually stronger, it was quite impossible to produce a dark horse. For a top player, it didn’t matter if he didn’t feel good at the beginning or if his hands weren’t hot yet. He could defeat an African player first to get the feeling. In the second game, he could win against an American player to stimulate the enthusiasm. In the third game, he could defeat a European big guy, then get his feeling and morale back. Here came the period of beating children like a Big Devil.

The National Table Tennis Championship would be held at the provincial level with two players from each province, so none of them would be weak. Therefore, even a top player could lose the game if he entered the game too slowly or encountered an opponent in a perfect state.

...

Dai Li didn’t follow their team to attend the game. According to the rules, each team could only have two coaches in the competition. So, the table tennis team sent Ping Wang, the head coach, and Tao Lin, the deputy coach. Therefore, Dai Li, the physical coach, had no opportunity at all.

What’s more, when the team went out to play, the physical coach was useless. The tactical arrangement of the game and the guidance of the athletes were all the work of the chief coach, not the physical coach. Even being there, Dai Li was just a part of the audience.

Being an audience member was no different than watching the game on TV or on the computer.

In the first few rounds, TV broadcasters would only broadcast the matches of famous players. Obviously, Feng Zhu was not famous and therefore not qualified to be on TV. But now, webcast was so advanced that online live-broadcasting platforms would broadcast the games not on TV, even with live commentary from sports anchors. Therefore, Dai Li didn’t miss Feng Zhu’s game.

Feng Zhu’s first opponent was also strong, basically the same as the previous Feng Zhu. Nevertheless, Feng Zhu’s physical flexibility had been improved greatly and his level had been improved significantly. He defeated his opponent without any trouble.

In his second game, he encountered a national player who was only seventeen years old, and had just enrolled in the national team this year.

Maybe because he was too young and lacked experience, or maybe because Feng Zhu was so eager to defeat a national player, the kid played in an extremely fierce way. In a word, this game was quite easy for Feng Zhu.

In the third game, Feng Zhu met another national player, called Tielin Li in the national team two, who was about the same age as Feng Zhu. For Feng Zhu, this game was a real challenge.

...

Two middle-aged men were sitting in an unimpressive corner of the grandstand. The left, wearing a peak cap, was fat and plain-looking, and now he was sleepy as well. The one on the right had a buzz cut, a big nose and big eyes, a square face, and a wide mouth. He had a pair of dashing eyebrows. At first glance, he appeared an upright man, who was suitable to play the protagonist in an anti-Japanese war film.

The two men were the chief coach and deputy chief coach of the national table tennis team. The left one with a peak cap was the chief coach Zhizhong Gu, and the right one was the deputy chief coach Bin Wang.

These two men had both been world champions when they were young, and both were grand slam winners of table tennis. They had once been teammates. Zhizhong Gu retired earlier because he was older, and he stayed and became a table tennis coach for the national team. Also, Bin Wang stayed on the national team as a coach after retirement.

Nowadays, this pair remained partners as they had been when they were young athletes, and became captains of the national table tennis team, leading this team to a glorious future.

Today, of course they were in the stands to inspect the athletes.

"Players of team one play stably. It has been smooth for them to reach the second stage." Bin Wang was watching the latest games on the phone with his head down.

"They usually have more chances to attend in various competitions. When facing big competitions, they will be more stable in mentality. I’m relieved about them." Zhizhong Gu continued, "But those young men of team two, some of them are beyond my expectation."

"Some of them are really promising. They definitely can make great achievements after they go through more, but they just lack opportunities." Pointing to Tielin Li, who had just entered the stage, Bin Wang continued, "Tielin Li, from team two. He has been on our team for two years, right?"

"Yes. It’s time to achieve some awards for the national team after two years’ training," Zhizhong Gu said, his attention unconsciously focused on Tielin Li.

...

Bang! The flying ball hit on Tielin Li’s racket with a clear sound.

Not good! Tielin Li thought.

The rapid rotation of the ball was beyond Tielin Li’s expectations. Though he tried to hold the ball, it still flew off the table.

Feng Zhu is not tall but strong in power. The ball he returns is even equal to those strength players in terms of speed and rotation. I can’t play hard with him. I should play flexibly and make him move all the time to seek chances, Tielin Li thought.

Tielin Li strictly carried out his plan, but nearly in vain.

Feng Zhu’s action was much smoother than Tielin Li had imagined. He even made some hard skills without much distortion.

This Feng Zhu is even much harder to handle than teammates on the national team! Tielin Li looked at the score and realized that he was behind again, and he felt anxious.

...

In the stands, Zhizhong Gu frowned. Bin Wang said beside him, "If the game goes on like this, Tielin Li will lose!"

"Tielin Li plays well. His opponent is so excellent!" Zhizhong Gu said.

"This guy is called Feng Zhu. Our national team inspected him before," Bin Wang said at once.

Zhizhong Gu searched his memory and said, "I remember I read some reports about him two years ago. He has practiced table tennis since he was a child, and his skill was pretty good and his strength was much greater than a lot of big players. His serve was fast enough and the rotation was strong enough. However, he lacked body flexibility."

"Feng Zhu’s ball is great in speed and rotation, but his flexibility is also not bad! I don’t see any problems in his body flexibility," Bin Wang commented.

"It means that Feng Zhu has improved his flexibility during the last two years." Zhizhong Gu frowned again. "I remember that he was eighteen two years ago, so now he is twenty. Athletes at this age start to build muscle. I believe they will become strong, but I will not believe they can be more flexible!"

"Watch longer. Maybe Feng Zhu is playing at his best!" Bin Wang continued, "If it was his normal level, I believe he is better than most of the players in team two!"

As they were talking, the game ended. Feng Zhu defeated Tielin Li. Tielin Li was also the first national player to be eliminated.

...

Bin Wang’s judgment was correct that Feng Zhu was indeed much better than most players of national team two.

In the fourth round, Feng Zhu faced another player of national team two. Although he lost the first two sets, he finally won.

In the fifth round, the quarter final, Feng Zhu faced a senior member of the national team as well as the world number one player, Anshan Wang.

Anshan Wang was a super grand slam player who had won all the titles including the Olympic Games, the World Championship, the World Cup, the Asian Cup, the Asian Championship, the Tour Finals, and singles in the National Games. Besides, he had ranked the first place in the world for three consecutive years.

There remained a big gap between Feng Zhu and Anshan Wang. What’s more, Anshan Wang was more experienced than Feng Zhu. At last, Feng Zhu lost this game. However, Feng Zhu’s performance in this competition was remarkable. He could feel proud even though he was defeated.

After the end of the singles competitions, the doubles and team competitions began.

...

"When did Hanbei Team become so strong? They defeated Huajing Team in the group competition!"

"There are three national players in Huajing Team, and Hanbei has none."

"Hanbei Team won the crucial game in the doubles."

"As for the doubles, it suddenly occurs to me that the two pairs of players from Hanbei both entered the last sixteen!"

A lot of discussions went on around.

Zhizhong Gu felt interested and looked at Ping Wang on the stage.

"Hanbei Team is a black horse this year. Their strength improved significantly this year. So strange!" Zhizhong Gu said, smiling.

"I agree with you. Those players are much better than they were last year. I’ve known Ping Wang for years, and I know exactly how much he can handle. If he is so excellent like this, the Hanbei table tennis team is already number one!" in Wang wore an expression of approval.

"I think Ping Wang must get help from some master hand. Let’s go and talk to him!" Saying this, Zhizhong Gu stood up.