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

Chapter 293 World Youth Championship Draw

The World Youth Championship is divided into two age groups: U15 and U19.

Each age group is further divided into seven events: men's and women's team events, men's and women's doubles events, singles events, and mixed doubles events.

It differs from the team events in the Olympics.

Men's and women's doubles are separate from team competitions.

Therefore, the team competition is set up with three singles players: the first singles player, the second singles player, and the third singles player, and the entire competition adopts a best-of-five-games format.

As for the other items, there is almost no difference.

Starting from the 28th, the first competition will be the team competition.

The mixed doubles competition will begin on the 30th.

Doubles and singles matches will begin on December 3rd.

The entire competition spans eight days.

The schedule is quite tight.

Half past two.

The host announced the start of the lottery on time.

However, none of the Chinese team members showed up.

"what's the situation?"

Kim Ga-on glanced at the doorway every now and then, muttering to himself, "Is the Chinese team going to withdraw from the competition en masse?"

The lottery ceremony proceeded smoothly and in an orderly manner.

The match lists for the U15 team competition, doubles, mixed doubles, singles, etc., have been released one after another.

Next up is the U19 team.

Men's and women's team events, doubles, women's singles...

As the host projected the women's singles draw onto the big screen, he suddenly looked up, scanned the room, and slowly said, "Next, we have a very important guest to draw the lots for our U19 women's singles team. He is..."

"China, Chen Jin!"

Upon hearing the name "Chen Jin"...

Wow!

Everyone present was deeply moved.

The sound of gasps for breath echoed throughout the large conference room like a windmill.

All of a sudden.

Countless gazes, filled with complex emotions, turned simultaneously toward the doorway.

"crunch-"

The door was pushed open.

A tall, slender figure strode in.

The team uniforms were bright red, with dark gold dragon patterns embroidered on the cuffs.

"It really is Chen Jin!"

Wu Juncheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Is he alone?"

Kim Ga-on asked curiously, "What about the other athletes on the Chinese team?"

"I guess they're resting and adjusting to the time difference."

Wu Juncheng said in a low voice.

Chen Jin strode quickly onto the drawing table, a smile playing on his lips, his clean face showing no sign of fatigue.

Meanwhile, the U19 men's singles players on site all looked pale and ashen.

"He's Chen Jin? That monster ranked second in the world?"

"I doubt it. Is he really only fifteen? Isn't he twenty-five?"

"They're already this strong, why do they still need to participate in the World Youth Championship? Are they trying to deny us a chance to compete?"

"Merciful God, please don't put me in the same half of the bracket as him!"

"This is the second-best monster in the world. Is it too late for me to withdraw from the competition?"

……

Standing on the drawing platform, feeling the gazes cast upon him by the crowd below, like swords and spears, Chen Jin scratched the tip of his nose.

"I'm just here to draw a lot, is it necessary to be so aggressive?"

Chen Jin smiled bitterly to himself.

Despite the language barrier, the women's singles draw was quickly completed under the host's instructions.

Stepping off the drawing table, Chen Jin didn't rush to leave. Instead, he found an empty seat in a corner and sat down. Next...

It's time for the men's singles draw.

According to the rules, Wu Juncheng, as the number one seed in the U19 men's singles at this World Youth Championships, was directly placed first in the upper half of the draw.

As for Chen Jin...

Because the points system for youth tournaments is a separate system, although there are world rankings, it is not included in the points system of tournaments such as the three major tournaments, WTT Finals, Grand Slam tournaments, and championship tournaments.

Previously, neither Chen Jin nor Xie Mingyang had participated in international youth competitions.

Therefore, there is no integral.

He is not a seeded player in the World Youth Championships.

This also means that, before the draw results are announced, the two players could end up in either half of the draw.

"Don't let Chen Jin be in the same bracket as me, don't let Chen Jin be in the same bracket as me..."

Many contestants were secretly praying in their hearts.

Since they've come to participate in the competition, they must want to achieve a better ranking.

But if he had encountered Chen Jin earlier, let alone his ranking, his Dao heart would probably have been shattered.

"I wonder which unlucky guy will run into Chen Jin in the first round?"

The atmosphere at the scene was tense.

However, what's meant to happen will happen; there's no escaping it.

The guest carefully took a slip of paper from the lottery box and unfolded it to read it.

He raised an eyebrow, and a strange expression immediately appeared on his face.

Seeing this, everyone's hearts sank in: "It's here, it's here, the monster has finally arrived."

After taking the slip of paper, the host glanced at it before calmly announcing to the public, "China, Chen Jin."

Top half.

2/4 zone.

In the first round, he will face Romanian player Darius Movillianu.

The lottery results brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

The players in the lower half of the bracket all breathed a sigh of relief.

At least, there was no risk of encountering Chen Jin before the final.

The players in the upper bracket, though looking worried, were fortunate that they wouldn't be facing Chen Jin in the first round.

Only the curly-haired guy named "Darius Movillianu" seemed to have been struck by lightning, and he slumped into his chair.

“No——”

Darius clutched his head in his hands, gripping his curly hair tightly, his face contorted in agony as if he were being tortured in the Middle Ages. “God, my family has been devout believers for over a dozen generations.”

“My great-grandfather once donated stained glass windows to Bucharest Cathedral!”

You can't do this to me!

While secretly relieved, the people around Darius cast sympathetic glances at him.

Darius's bearded coach, upon seeing the draw results, first sighed helplessly: "Darius's luck is just too bad."

However, since things have come to this point, there is no other way.

The bearded coach gently patted Darius on the back and whispered, "Darius, my brave and confident boy, never complain about God."

"If you look at it from a different perspective, perhaps this is an opportunity given to you by God."

Hear the words.

Darius snapped out of his pain, looked up at the bearded coach, and asked with a puzzled expression, "God gave me this opportunity?"

"Chen Jin is indeed very strong, as terrifying as Satan from hell."

The bearded coach said solemnly, "But you have the courage that God gave you as a weapon. If you defeat Chen Jin, your name will soon spread throughout Europe and the whole world."

After swallowing a mouthful of chicken soup, Darius felt his heart burning, as if a ball of fire was about to burst forth from the top of his head.

Which young man hasn't dreamed of "becoming famous overnight"?

This is especially true for professional gamers.

After thinking about it carefully, Darius realized that what the coach said made a lot of sense.

The only question now is: "Can I really beat Chen Jin?"

"Coach Andrei, look me in the eye and swear in the name of God."

Uh……

The bearded coach's eyes flickered, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally managed to utter a single word: "maybe."

(End of this chapter)