1 Provincial team seedling

◎【Revised】Battle of the Sexes, She Gives Two Points◎

Jianghuai Provincial Team in July.

There was a crowd of people, and as soon as you came in you could smell the smell of rubber filling the entire training hall.

But the people inside had long been accustomed to it. They just gathered around a pool table and watched a male-female sex battle match organized on a whim by the provincial team coach.

In order to select young talents to join the national team.

The week-long team round-robin tournament has reached its final day.

The players, knowing that their performance was average and there was no hope of advancing, packed their golf bags and luggage early and prepared to go home for the summer vacation.

The players with higher points were also among the spectators as they waited for their final scores to be announced.

Both ends of the table.

A man and a woman.

Two kids who looked about 15 or 16 were doing pre-game warm-up exercises with the ball.

Start with forehand and backhand pull.

From the near table to the middle table, and then start pulling at a large angle——

"Do we really need to fight? Can she handle it?" someone whispered beside them.

"Is it okay? Don't be ridiculous. This is the person who just won the minor grand slam last year! Let's put it this way, she is the 'Dong Zhu Xi Zu' of the table tennis world, and the Zhu in the front refers to her." Another person said.

"But the person opposite is a little boy after all..."

Fights between men and women are rare.

Because women lose a significant amount of their pectoral muscles during breastfeeding, their strength and explosive power are naturally weaker than men's. At a normal level, many people believe that a male player playing against a female player is as easy as playing against a robot. However...

There are exceptions to everything.

Warm-up is over and training begins.

The white ball paraded between the two rackets like a silver dragon.

Bang, snap, boom...

No one noticed that there were three middle-aged men standing on the second floor of the stadium, also watching this battle of genders with unequal physical strength.

"Is this girl Zhu Qi, who won the gold medal in women's singles at the World Youth Championship last week?" asked the man with a Jin dialect accent.

"Right, right, right, Coach Jiang. Even though she's only fifteen, she's a well-known name in the national youth division. We all call her Baobao. A reporter interviewed her a while ago and said she plays with the same aggression as the boys. The national team's head coach, Ren Zongyuan, even called her to ask about it," the provincial team coach said with a laugh. "She plays with ideas and a sharp mind. Many of the young players on the team are happy to learn from her and treat her like a little coach..."

Coach Jiang narrowed his eyes. "I'm curious, too. I want to see the level of this new Little Grand Slam player that Chairman Ren has been so excited about."

The provincial team coach offered her a cigarette with an apologetic smile. "She's got great skills, needless to say. She's a quintessentially gifted player. I've been coaching for so long and haven't seen anyone more talented than her. But she's very opinionated. Our coaches all say that even though she's only 15, she speaks and acts like an adult. After she won individual titles at the World Youth Championship, Asian Youth Championship, and U18 group, the team wanted to hold a mini-Grand Slam celebration for her. But she said a Grand Slam was her only goal, and a mini-Grand Slam wasn't a national honor, just a title, so there was no need to celebrate."

Although the mini-slam is not as famous as the grand slam.

But for a fifteen-year-old child, it is not easy to win all the individual championships before the New Year.

Coach Jiang took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled, "That's normal. Little geniuses all have their own personalities. What's going on with her family?"

The national team is also a group of elite people. He has worked in the national team for more than 20 years and has met many top talents in the industry.

Everyone has their own temper.

"This girl's mother died early, and her father remarried and never took care of her. When she was six, her uncle took her to live in Peng Village near us. It's quite pitiful. Her aunt was sick and needed money, so her uncle was the only one supporting the family by driving a taxi, and life was very difficult. This girl is very filial, and she has been playing tournaments and earning prize money since she was young. Don't be fooled by her 15-year-old girl, she has a wealth of competition experience! As soon as she hears about a tournament, she asks for leave to go, no matter if it's a high-level tournament or an amateur one, as long as there is prize money! Last week, because she sneaked out to play pickup basketball, she was made to write a self-criticism, and it's still hanging at the gate of the provincial team."

Coach Jiang remained noncommittal.

Nowadays, it is different from the 1960s and 1970s, when slogans alone could mobilize a group of people to work hard in sports and work together to win the championship.

The economy has improved in recent years, but people have also become more impetuous, and fewer and fewer people are willing to send their children to practice sports.

It's hard, tiring and competitive.

Families with some spare money send their children abroad. After they come back with some experience, they can become "superior people" in China.

Coach Jiang fixed his gaze on the little girl, and after a while he couldn't take his eyes off her.

The girl held up the racket, bounced slightly and moved her body, then used the inertia of her body to hit the ball onto the white line of the opposite table.

Wow!

A beautiful smash!

Although it was a lucky shot that hit the rim, the girl turned and left the table the moment she hit the ball, without any preparation for the next shot.

This means that the entire stage is completely exposed to the opponent.

She was sure that her ball could reach the table, and she was also sure that the boy could not catch it.

Her predictive ability is far beyond that of all other children of her age.

This shows that she has a very solid understanding of the ball and her touch is far superior to that of the boy in front of her.

The boy didn't receive it.

【11:6】

Girl gets an inning.

Coach Jiang thought to himself - good shot!

She is not tall and is thin, so the ball she hits lacks a little power.

But fortunately, his legs are very flexible and can run very fast, and the speed can be connected very quickly.

Most importantly…

"Does she always play with a horizontal racket?" Coach Jiang twisted the cigarette butt in his hand.

The provincial team coach nodded in agreement. "Right, right. When I was six years old, I started practicing with a horizontal racket and two-sided anti-glue. I used topspin combined with fast attacks, mainly using the backhand system. My forehand is actually pretty good too..."

In order to restrict the development of the Chinese team, the International Table Tennis Federation changed the material of the ball from celluloid to PVC, making the originally light ball heavier.

The increase in the diameter of the ball from 38 mm to 40 mm also makes it increasingly difficult to generate spin with a straight blade.

With 98% of the players on the Chinese team using straight blades, this change is basically equivalent to moving the Chinese team's main artery.

Then, the system of each game was changed from 21 points to 11 points, which accelerated the progress of each game, prevented the Chinese team from winning by relying on endurance, and increased Europe's explosiveness and control over the game.

Now the entire national table tennis team is worried about the lack of horizontal boards.

This girl! She's the perfect person for the Chinese team!

Coach Jiang nodded secretly. "The penhold players currently on the national team are no longer able to play. The few veteran horizontal blade players are also about to retire due to lack of physical fitness. This time I am touring various provinces across the country to select talents."

We lost the women's singles gold medal at the Munich World Games two years ago. After returning, I was appointed head coach of the national team and was hospitalized for surgery and left the team for a year and a half. The whole team became a mess after losing its backbone.

In this year's National Table Tennis Championships, neither the men's nor the women's teams won a single medal!

The Sports Commission severely criticized the national team, and all the coaches and players were unable to hold their heads up.

Asian Championships, Asian Cup, World Championships...how many young players who changed from straight to horizontal were defeated by the Athens teams of Japan, South Korea, the United States and Russia!

The next World Games will be held in Japan, so we have to fight a tough battle that we can only win and not lose!

Now the whole country is short of horizontal boards, short of horizontal boards that can be played well, and short of female horizontal boards that can be played well!

If he fails to achieve good results in the Tokyo World Games two years later, he will be sent back to his hometown to pull cotton.

Coach Jiang felt that his eyes were wide open as he looked at the girl.

The handle of the racket the girl was holding was a little yellow and very worn. It was obviously an old racket that had been worn loose.

If it were other players on the national team, they would have thrown away this kind of board long ago.

But she was able to completely ignore the discomfort caused by the worn racket and make full use of her body flexibility to mobilize her opponent.

The ball flew over the net in the air, like a silver meteor, and landed accurately on the left third of the table opposite the boy.

The boy hurriedly twisted his hand sideways, trying to steal a long ball back, but when the racket hit the ball, the white ball flew straight into the sky.

Everyone's eyes widened!

What a powerful rotation!

This little girl! She's incredible!

The third game ends.

【2:1】

Zhu Qi leads by a small margin.

Coach Jiang almost clapped his hands in approval.

The girl added insurance to the ball and hit it sideways with a lot of spin.

Because this is an intra-team final, neither side has tactical guidance.

The boy scratched his head and turned around in circles.

The girl was calm and composed, muttering to herself and guiding herself.

Clear distinction.

The provincial team coach explained, "The player playing against Zhu Qi is a young player who is going to be sent to the national youth team for training. He also uses a horizontal racket, but he previously practiced with a penhold racket and has just switched to it four years ago."

"So he used to have a penhold grip? No wonder he still has some of its shortcomings." Coach Jiang narrowed his eyes and habitually began to assess the two children at the table. "He still has an old-fashioned backhand position, so his offensive ability is weak, so he can only play defensively with a swivel or twist. This little girl is targeting his backhand and hitting long balls. This kid is a little slow-witted. He knows girls like to sneak up on him, but he still keeps giving them long balls. He doesn't have the same level of detail as her. Good job, this little girl is a good player and smart. How many points did she give up this game?"

Under normal circumstances, during the battle of the sexes, the man will take the initiative to give a few points to the woman.

The provincial team coach said angrily, "Two goals."

"Only two goals?" Coach Jiang was even more astonished. "This girl is so good at playing like this? No wonder she won the World Youth Championship."

The provincial team coach added: "It was Zhu Qi who gave him two goals."

“…”Coach Jiang.

The fourth game ends.

The little boy didn't even have time to defend, let alone attack.

Everyone in the audience saw the ball hit back by Zhu Qi sliding around and running back and forth between the near and far tables.

After the last ball hit the net, Zhu Qi won the best-of-five match with a score of [3:1].

The girls burst into applause and cheered for Zhu Qi.

The boy's face turned red with anger and he threw the racket to the ground: "Fuck you, I don't want to play anymore!"

Originally, Zhu Qi could be recommended to the second national team, but the coach insisted that he have a gender battle with Zhu Qi, saying that the national team leaders would be visiting today.

It’s just an exhibition match, why does he have to play against girls?

The boys who were originally cheering for him fell silent, wanting to say something to comfort him but unable to.

You can't just say: It doesn't matter, even though you played against a girl and she gave you two goals and lost, you still have a promising future.

Zhu Qi's younger brother was also on the provincial team. After the game, he followed Zhu Qi excitedly and said, "Sister! You're awesome! Teach me that backhand rip!"

"Sure, buy me five sheets of rubber each for the front and back, pay the tuition, and I guarantee you'll learn it." Zhu Qi hung the towel around his neck and drank water in gulps.

"I'm your brother! Give me a friendly price, I don't have much left!"

"Only a quarter cousin! Every time I teach you a lesson, I get so angry that my life is shortened. This is mental damages."

"I also want to change to a pair of sneakers. Let's talk about it!" ...

The golf bag was hung on her left shoulder, and a World Youth Women's Singles Champion souvenir card pendant hung on the zipper, swaying from side to side as she walked, which was very cute.

Seeing Coach Jiang looking at the girl with increasing admiration, the coach of the second national team who had been standing silently by finally spoke.

"Lao Jiang, do you know who led her in the provincial team?"

Coach Jiang turned his gaze back: "Who?"

"He Qianlu."

As soon as these three words came out of his mouth, the smile on Coach Jiang's face suddenly disappeared, and he swallowed back the words he wanted to say, "Let this girl meet me tomorrow."

"Actually, we approached her two years ago and explained everything clearly, hoping she'd change coaches on her own. Several other coaches on the provincial team wanted her because she was playing well. But she's stubborn. She said she's been with He Qianlu since she joined the provincial team and is used to his coaching style and doesn't want to change," the national team coach continued. "That's also the main reason we didn't take her last year."

Coach Jiang was silent for a long time, looking at the girl who had completely disappeared from his sight, as if he had discovered a crack in the subtle structure of a flawless piece of jade. He said in a cold tone, "What a pity! Such a good seedling."

/

This article has been meticulously edited and plotted, with many major events meticulously detailed. It's completely different from the pirated version! Compare for yourself! The edited version boasts 36,000 more words than before, ensuring only authentic readers can experience the full, refined experience.

【Author’s words】

The next book I'll be publishing is "My Playing Table Tennis in the 1970s." Click here to bookmark it in advance! We'll also be notified when the book is published!

The initial timeline of this article refers to 1995-2000, and the finale of the article will be 20 years later [Rose].

The so-called small grand slam.

Refers to U18 (national youth group aged 18 and under).

Asian Youth Championship (Asian youth group aged 18 and under).

World Youth Championship (World Youth Group 18 and under).

Singles champions of these three events.

The benchmarks are the three Grand Slam singles championships: the Olympic Games (Super Combined World Games), the World Championships (World Sports Championships), and the All-China Table Tennis Championships (Global Table Tennis Championships). [The prototypes are the Olympics, the World Cup, and the World Table Tennis Championships. Because the female protagonist later has a very sensitive setting, after consulting with the editor, the editor suggested that I make the entire historical context fictional, so the names of the competitions have also been adjusted.]

The difference between the Mini Slam and the Grand Slam is that the former is not an internationally recognized honor and will not be recorded in the personal file. Instead, it is a unique name given by people in the circle to express recognition of the child's having won all awards under the age of 18.

[Heart] The heroine doesn't just start out at max level and beat everyone! She can lose too! She has inner wounds that need healing, so she exhibits some disobedience, excessive self-awareness, and even a bit of rebelliousness.

[Heart] Changes in the competition system, ball size, ball material, serve shielding, and so on have had a huge impact on straight-blade players. There are many straight-blade players in amateur competitions, but it is difficult to go professional. In reality, a group of excellent white-ball players have been eliminated, which is a pity.

[Heart] I particularly like our straight-blade tablets. As they are gradually disappearing from the historical stage, this article also describes a lot of exaggerations to express my personal regret. Please do not verify them.

[Huang Xin] I am not an insider in the industry. I searched for relevant content from friends in the circle, reference books and the Internet, and made certain changes to advance the development of the plot.

[Huang Xin] The schedule is largely fabricated, and the competition system is largely self-made. The World Games are modeled after the Olympics, but they have added mixed team, women's doubles, and men's doubles to the table tennis competition.

[Fan Xin] Finally, finally! None of the characters in this article have real names! However, some of the redundant internet memes are not directed at any real athletes, they are just necessary for the plot of this article. I am a fan of all the national table tennis players, and I also like a few of the foreign players. I love the little white ball! ! [Fan Xin]