Yonghe Road

Chapter 69 Preliminary Round
Thanks to President Ji Tong's efforts, Baicha Town finally became a venue for the "Tea BA" tournament, and Luo Chuxiu became the assistant coach for this year's "Tea BA" basketball tournament. As a result, one-third of the 12-player team is comprised of players from Baile Village: Wang Zian, Zhong Ziqi, Shao Feng, and Ye Shensu. The head coach has five players on his roster and has hired three foreign players.

The three foreign players are all first-level athletes in domestic basketball. They have been playing in basketball games in various cities in China as foreign players for a long time. One is two meters tall, one is over 1.9 meters tall, and the other is over 1.8 meters tall.

He is over 1.8 meters tall, which is not considered tall in basketball. However, he has excellent physical strength, a variety of offensive means, and is particularly good on the defensive end. He also has accurate shooting and is known as a "scoring machine" in the industry.

He is over 1.9 meters tall and has strong dominance and rich experience in the interior, and is known as the "inside overlord".

The two-meter tall athlete excels in technical versatility, teamwork, and competitive mentality, and is known as the "all-around warrior."

When the three foreign players arrived at the local area, the Tea BA competition had already gone through several months of warm-up with events such as three-on-three basketball games and cheerleading invitational competitions, and officially entered the second stage: a month-long preliminary stage, which is also the official competition stage.

The national anthem was played at the opening ceremony, and the first Tea BA Competition officially kicked off in full swing.

Dozens of tea-producing county teams named after the "county name + tea category name" rushed to eastern Fujian from all directions like a group of eagles to attend a feast of tea and basketball.

The opening ceremony welcomed many distinguished guests, including leaders from the International Olympic Committee, the Chinese Volleyball Association, the Provincial Basketball Association, and the China Tea Distribution Association, adding luster to this sports-integrated Chinese tea culture event. They expressed their hope that the competition would be a high-quality and spirited event, fully demonstrating the vitality and innovation of China's tea industry and highlighting the important role of sports in promoting public health and fostering friendship and exchange.

Secretary Song Qinglai delivered a speech on behalf of the host country at the opening ceremony.

He said that Tea BA is the first large-scale basketball tournament in China with tea-producing counties as participants. He hopes that by hosting this competition, he can promote the integrated development of tea and tourism, create characteristic city events and classic IPs for sports to help the development of the tea industry, and promote the development of new models and new business formats such as "white tea + sports" and "tourism + sports". At the same time, let basketball events lead the way in national fitness, and local white tea lead the way in healthy tea drinking, becoming a new trend.

When he was young, he led his team to win the CBA league championship many times, demonstrating his outstanding basketball skills and dominance. After retiring, he served as a leader in the provincial basketball association. This "God of Basketball" kicked off the opening game at the opening ceremony, directly igniting the enthusiasm for the event.

The entire event was broadcast live online. The "God of War"'s kick-off not only drew cheers from the audience, but also allowed audiences across the city, province, and country to watch it in real time through their mobile phones. It was very lively both online and offline.

The first preliminary match was between the host, the local white tea team, and a green tea team from central and southern Zhejiang.

Because it was a regular five-man game, each team fielded five players: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. The head coach played two of the three foreign players, one for the first half and one for the second. The remaining players rotated four of their own five players.

In the first half, the 1.80-meter-tall "scoring machine" served as the shooting guard. He had sharp eyes and used his flexible footwork to break through the opponent's defense, or make a quick stop jump shot, or cleverly pass the ball to open teammates. At the critical moment, he could always make a beautiful shot, letting the ball draw a beautiful arc in the air and go into the net, quickly winning the next game.

In the second half, the 6'3" inside dominant player played center. The center is the core of the team's interior, and his 6'3" height provides a clear advantage on the court. Whether scoring at the rim, rebounding, setting pick-and-rolls, creating space for teammates, protecting the rim, or grabbing defensive rebounds, he easily accomplished everything. Thus, another easy win.

According to the rule of best of three games, the outcome was unexpectedly decided in the first two games, so the two-meter-tall foreign aid "Almighty Warrior" had no chance to play in the first game. He sat in the players' lounge chairs with Wang Zian and others to watch the game.

After their first victory, the White Tea team didn't stay to watch the other Tea teams play, but instead headed straight back to their hotel to rest. This year's Tea BA, regardless of whether they were local or international, was provided with board and lodging at the city's finest five-star hotels.

Standing in the lobby of a five-star hotel, the head coach pointed at several of his players and said, "You guys, in ten minutes, gather in my room with the three soccer kings to discuss what happened on the court tonight."

Wang Zian and others were stunned.

"What about us?" Luo Chuxiu asked.

"Those who are not playing tonight don't have to." The head coach didn't look at Luo Chuxiu.

Zhong Ziqi was unconvinced and pointed at the two-meter-tall "almighty warrior" and said, "He didn't play either."

"He is a foreign player!" said the head coach, leading his players and three foreign players towards the hotel elevator.

Luo Chuxiu followed, and the elevator door had already closed.

Wang Zian and others watched Luo Chuxiu walk back from the elevator with a listless look on his face. The grandeur of the hotel lobby contrasted with his lonely figure.

"He should arrange for you to play in the next game." Luo Chuxiu's voice lacked confidence.

Throughout the group stage, the players from Baile Village had no chance to play. However, with the advantage of three foreign players, the Baicha team overcame all obstacles and reached the semi-finals.

Twenty days have passed since the opening ceremony.

During these twenty days, the local area carried out a series of supporting activities such as the tea BA market and cultural exchanges. It also invited a well-known and influential host who had worked at CCTV to preside over the local white tea brand building conference.

The brand building conference brought together experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and investors in the industry, and set up multiple sessions such as keynote speeches, theme speeches, round-table forums, etc. to jointly discuss the development direction of the local white tea industry, share brand building experiences, find new development opportunities, and further expand the local white tea brand influence at home and abroad.

Local city leaders including Secretary Song Qinglai and Director Mei Wending attended the meeting, listened carefully to the lectures given by leading scholars, and actively offered suggestions on how the local white tea industry can further develop in the direction of standardization, branding, and internationalization, and enhance its brand value and market competitiveness.

Because the Baicha team was making great progress, the city leaders felt proud. After finishing a series of meetings, they packed up and prepared to go to the semi-finals to cheer for the players.

The venue for the semi-finals is set in Baicha Town.