Table tennis: Swinging the racket billions of times, achieving a grand slam

Chapter 14 [014] Selection Schedule and Draw

Chapter 14 [014] Selection Schedule and Draw
The training ends at ten o'clock in the evening.

When he first came to the national team and was unfamiliar with the place, Chen Jin abandoned the habit of extra training he had when he was in the provincial team.

After packing up my things with Zhang Jiahao, I went straight back to the dormitory.

The dormitories are triple-bed apartments.

The decoration style of the room is similar to that of an ordinary hotel.

Except for the master bedroom which has two beds, the other two single rooms, about ten square meters, each have only one bed.

The sound insulation of the three rooms is quite good and they are connected by a balcony.

There is also an emergency escape passage in the corner of the balcony.

Chen Jin and Zhang Jiahao each lived in a single room.

Coach Wu and Coach Zhang occupied the master bedroom.

Shortly after lunch in the afternoon, the national table tennis team notified the coaches of the major provincial teams to attend a meeting.

Therefore, none of them showed up at the training hall.

By the time the meeting was over, it was already past nine o'clock.

Coach Wu and Coach Zhang returned to the dormitory, rested for a while, and waited for the two to come back.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, Coach Zhang notified the two female players to go to the cafeteria to gather for a midnight snack.

It didn't take long.

A group of six people came to the cafeteria.

Training is extremely physically demanding, and Zhang Jiahao was already starving and eating voraciously.

"Coach Wu, Coach Zhang, aren't you in a meeting?"

He Xue asked curiously, "What kind of meeting is this? Is it related to the selection competition?"

"Correct."

Coach Wu nodded.

Immediately, he slowly took out a small notebook with a red cover and a pair of reading glasses from his pocket.

"The schedule for the tryouts is out."

Coach Wu said as he put on his reading glasses and spread out a small notebook on the table.

Hear the words.

Even Zhang Jiahao stopped his gluttonous behavior, and several people looked at Coach Wu in unison.

"There are 64 male and 64 female contestants in this selection competition."

"The qualifiers adopt a round-robin system. The first round is divided into 16 groups, with four players in each group. The players will play two out of three games, and the winner will be decided by a tiebreaker. The top two players in the group will advance to the next round."

"And so on, round two, round three, round four, round five."

"However, since there were only four players left in the fifth round, the format was changed to best-of-seven, without a tiebreaker, to determine the champion, runner-up and third place."

"The draw for the first round of the round-robin tournament will be held at 4pm tomorrow."

After saying that, Coach Wu gently closed the notebook, took off his reading glasses, and put them back in his pocket.

He glanced around.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Coach Wu asked.

"I have."

Zhang Jiahao raised his hand. "Will the draw adopt the principle of avoiding teams from the same province?"

"will not."

Coach Wu shook his head, "There is no way around it."

"what?"

Zhang Jiahao had a look of despair on his face, and he scratched his hair with both hands. "Then wouldn't it be possible for me to be in a group with Brother Jin?"

Seeing this, Chen Jin and the two girls silently moved the plates in front of them away.

"It's possible."

Coach Wu smiled slightly, "Are you worried that you can't beat Chen Jin?"

"I'm not worried, I'm sure we can't beat him!"

Zhang Jiahao almost collapsed on the dining table, as if he was suddenly attacked by some dead memories.

Since meeting Chen Jin, the two have only had three serious fights.

But every time Chen Jin shaved his head bald.

The beating was so devastating that he wanted to put down his racket and become a Buddha right away.

——Fuck the table tennis dream!

Knowing that you are no match for your opponent, but still going forward to seek abuse, you are definitely a swordsman.

Zhang Jiahao finally regained his table tennis dream, but he didn't want to be beaten to pieces by Chen Jin again.

"You can't beat Chen Jin, but can you beat others?"

Coach Wu smiled and said, "Anyway, the top two in the group will advance. Even if you happen to be in the same group with Chen Jin, you still have a chance to qualify."

"I'm certainly not afraid of the others."

Zhang Jiahao quickly added a patch, "Except Xie Mingyang."

Just finished speaking.

He seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed slightly: "What if in the first round, I am in a group with Brother Jin and Xie Mingyang?"

Seeing Zhang Jiahao's worrying look, it seemed that he was on the verge of collapse just based on speculation and imagination.

Coach Wu was both angry and amused: "That depends on your luck."

"what?"

Zhang Jiahao put his palms together and prayed sincerely, "Ancestors, please protect my children and grandchildren. When we draw lots for the selection competition tomorrow, please don't let me be in the same group with that BT Chen Jin and that arrogant Xie Mingyang."

"Hey, who is the BT?"

Chen Jin said dissatisfiedly.

"I'm praising you."

Zhang Jiahao pushed Chen Jin and said, "Go away, don't disturb me from chatting with the ancestors of our Zhang family."

"Brother Hao, isn't that right?"

He Xue reminded, "There are only four people in the fifth round of the round-robin tournament. Do you think Chen Jin can't make it, or Xie Mingyang can't make it, or you can't make it?"

"Nonsense, how could Brother Jin and Xie Mingyang..." Zhang Jiahao didn't finish his words before he immediately realized something was wrong.

With the strength of Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang, they will surely advance to the fifth round.

If I were not in the same group with them, wouldn't it mean that I would be eliminated before the fifth round of the round-robin tournament?

"Ah, bah, bah..."

Zhang Jiahao spat on the ground a few times, "The ancestors of the Zhang family, especially those who served as the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Master in heaven, what I just said does not count. Let's start over..."

Too lazy to listen to Zhang Jiahao's nonsense, Chen Jin turned to Coach Wu and said, "If there is no avoidance, then doesn't it mean that we may encounter the same person in all five rounds?"

"In theory, it is possible."

Coach Wu thought for a moment and said, "But, no one should be so unlucky."

After having supper and finishing their business, they went back to their dormitories.

Early the next morning.

Six twenty.

It wasn't yet fully light outside.

Although Chen Jin had turned off the alarm on his cell phone last night, the habit he had developed over the years made him wake up naturally at the appointed time.

Get up, get dressed, and go out alone.

After running for half an hour in the training center and taking a shower in the dormitory, I went to the cafeteria to have breakfast with Coach Wu and others.

Arrived at the training hall at 8:30.

Train as usual.

Simple and boring.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Li Qian and the head coach of the women's team appeared in the training hall, each carrying a lottery box.

The exciting moment has finally arrived.

Gathered quickly.

Li Qian took a list and patted the lottery box: "When I read out your name, come up and draw lots. You will be in whichever group you draw."

"Everyone rest assured, the lottery is absolutely fair and just, there is no shady manipulation."

"Okay, first one..."

Li Qian cleared his throat and raised his voice, "Anyang."

The voice just fell.

A little fat boy stood up, and under the gaze of everyone, even his ears turned red.

Trembling and treading on thin ice, he walked to the lottery box.

"Coach, are you putting your hands in there?"

The little fat man asked in a low voice.

"Correct."

Li Qian smiled and nodded.

The little fat boy put his chubby hand into the lottery box and felt around for a long time, but there was no movement.

"what happened?"

Li Qian asked, "Haven't you chosen your lot yet?"

"No."

The little fat boy's face turned red and he cried, "My hand is stuck and I can't pull it out."

"..."

Li Qian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he hurried forward and helped him hold the lottery box.

After a lot of effort, the little fat boy finally pulled his arm out. His face turned red and he was so embarrassed that he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

There was a burst of laughter at the scene.

But the little fat boy was holding a piece of paper in his hand, with his head buried, and was about to go back.

"and many more."

Li Qian grabbed him and asked, "Which group did you draw?"

"Oh."

The little fat boy finally reacted, unfolded the paper, and took a look at it. "Four, four groups."

"very good."

Li Qian filled in the information by hand, "Anyang, Group 4."

"Next, Bai Zixin."

"Bai Zixin, Group 7."

……

"Next one, Cai Wenhui."