◎Accept your fate?◎
"Okay, okay, it's already very good. Don't be so strict with yourself." Xu Chi and Jiang Lin persuaded Ji Tiantian together.
The British junior group on the side silently watched Ji Tang and his companions go to the waiting area accompanied by their coaches.
“They performed so well, but when they got off the ice, they didn’t look very happy or satisfied. The coaches are very strict with them.” The female companion of the junior group said with emotion.
"I heard that the training of athletes in China is very hard. Is that true?" The male partner shook his head. "Ice skating should be a happy thing. I don't want that."
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi sat quietly in the waiting area.
Ji Tiantian noticed that Tang Yi turned his head to look at her from time to time, so she frowned and looked at him: "Why do you keep looking at me!"
Tang Yi: "I'm afraid you'll cry again."
"It's not that easy to cry!" Ji Tiantian looked at Tang Yi with eyes wide open, paused and spoke softly, "If you want to cry, save it for the main competition... By the way, will the audience throw tissues to me this time?"
"That depends on our performance."
"Yeah, that's right."
If you don't perform well, no audience will throw things at you.
So you still have to compare carefully, otherwise you won’t even get a pack of tissues.
There was a sudden burst of applause and commotion in the quiet preliminary audience seats, and Ji Tang's results came out.
With a technical score of 37.57, a program content score of 36.52, and a total preliminary score of 74.09, the British junior team, which exceeded 72.68, ranked first in the preliminaries.
"Great!" Ni Chuan jumped up and shouted enthusiastically. Although the audience was still quiet, it could not dampen his enthusiasm.
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi stood up, smiled, hugged each other politely, and then turned around to hug the coaches.
"Great! We're entering the finals with first place in the preliminaries!" Xu Chi was excited. "Don't let up, finish the race in one go!"
After the preliminaries, Ji Tang from the Chinese group got the ticket to the main competition with the highest score.
The foreign audience sitting in the audience had different expressions.
Some of them were discussing with their companions with great joy that they were glad that they did not leave after the British junior group competition, otherwise they would have missed out on such an Asian dark horse.
Some viewers still looked incredulous and kept looking towards the display screen, suspecting that they were seeing things.
Ice dancing is a time-consuming event. It is easier to defend the stage than to attack it, and it also requires seniority.
In other words, it is basically impossible for a new player to suddenly emerge and surpass the old players, or for a weak country to suddenly emerge and surpass a strong country.
If there is, it must be a genius from heaven.
At this time, Lillian, number one in the British youth group, and the younger group were also staring at the display screen in a daze, unable to believe their eyes.
They thought that Ji Tang would do well. However, because of the confidence given by their own country and the inherent concept, they did not expect that Ji Tang, who was from an Asian country and so young, would surpass them and take first place.
Although they came from a powerful country and had never experienced the invisible glass ceiling, they all had the same feeling when looking at Ji Tang's achievements.
It seems like something is broken.
This pair of players from China seemed to have broken something that had been there for a long time.
Lillian felt the hair on her back stand up. An Asian doll who looked like an elementary school student and her dance partner did something that many people would never even think of.
"If I can get this score through hard training, then I want to give it a try." The male partner of the junior group suddenly spoke up to break the silence.
"What? Why did it suddenly change?" The female partner hit the male partner, then pulled Lillian's hand, and said in frustration and anxiety, "Lillian, what should I do! The preliminaries are like this, will the finals be super intense!"
"It's okay, don't worry about the preliminaries." Lillian slowly came back to her senses and spoke in a calm voice, "The referee may have rarely seen a promising group of Asian players, so the preliminaries were a little loose. It won't be like this in the main competition, don't worry."
"That's right, they definitely won't have such good luck in the main competition." The female companions in the younger group nodded, feeling somewhat relieved.
"Coach, we want to see the scoreboard."
Ji Tang and his team said this to their coach before leaving the competition venue.
Generally, a score sheet will be issued immediately after a figure skating competition. The score sheet is a report card that records the scores of each judge and the scores of the athletes.
Through this report card, it is clear where the contestants lost points and where they did not do well.
"You guys really don't give up." Xu Chi sighed, "Well, let's see."
Accompanied by his coach, Ji Tang got his own score sheet at the information desk. Ji Tiantian couldn't wait to see the scores of each item.
This time, she clearly felt that their performance was better than in the National Championships. Especially Tang Yi, Ji Tiantian could also feel that after a period of adaptation, his skills began to steadily improve.
So, why was this score of 74.09 lower than the National Championships score of 74.32? She wanted to take a closer look.
From the score table, we can see that the ISU judges also noticed their efforts. In the National Championships, they only got 5 points for the Level 2 basic step sequence, but this time they got 6.5 points for the Level 3 basic step sequence.
Few athletes can achieve the highest level 4 step sequence, and level 3 is already a very good level in the youth group.
Other technical movements, lifts, twists, and combined rotations are still rated at level 4, the same as in the National Championships.
However, the technical score T and program content score P are generally lower than those in the National Championships. It can only be said that the international judges are very strict in the GOE execution score and program content score. In other words, their performance still has a lot of room for improvement.
Although she was prepared to be treated harshly, Ji Tiantian still felt a little dissatisfied after seeing the score table.
"It would be better if the score could be higher." Ji Tiantian couldn't help but say.
"Yeah." Tang Yi nodded slightly to show his agreement.
"What the hell are you two trying to do!" Xu Chi yelled, "You're going to get a high score right off the bat! Is that even possible?"
"Just thinking about it. I also have areas that need improvement." Ji Tiantian looked at the score sheet and said to the coach, "I'm going to the bathroom. Wait for me."
Ji Tiantian went to the bathroom and carefully checked her feet. She was always unlucky, her skates always wore out before the game, and she had to change them and then break them in during the game.
This time there was no damage to the ankle, but there was a blister on the toe.
She carefully wrapped the damaged area with the Melody Band-Aid she carried with her, and looked at her feet with a smile on her face.
First in the preliminaries.
Although the result did not exceed that of the National Championships, but if you think about it carefully, it is also pretty good.
She cheered herself up and walked back. The two coaches and Tang Yi were still standing where they were before. The three of them didn't notice her approaching for a while.
Tang Yi was still silently looking at the small score sheet in his hand.
"What's wrong? Are you still calculating about the score?" Xu Chi couldn't help but laugh. "Why didn't I know you were such a calculating person before?"
"Tang Yi, are you feeling sorry for Tian Tian?" Jiang Lin seemed to have read something from Tang Yi's dark eyes and asked tentatively, "Do you think she deserves more points?"
Tang Yi didn't say anything, as if he agreed.
"She has suffered a lot, but you can't bear it for her." Jiang Lin looked into Tang Yi's eyes, "Do you know how to help her? Just play your role well."
Tang Yi was slightly stunned.
"Tang Yi!" Just then Ji Tiantian ran over with a bright smile on her face, "We are going to enter the finals, we must compete well this time."
He couldn't help but recall the time when she first learned to twirl and bounced across the ice.
She is a little swan radiating endless energy, and the role he needs to play is to support her.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"good."
After the preliminary round, the ice dance teams that did not make the top ten had to leave the stage sadly. The top ten teams participated in the short dance draw with other big names who took the direct train. There were 24 pairs participating in the short dance.
This time, Ji Tiantian successfully drew the first number plate. Everyone was familiar with her luck and no one was surprised.
Then the short dance competition began. Unlike the cold preliminaries, the audience seats for the short dance began to get lively, and many audience members entered the venue early, looking forward to the start of the competition. Ni Chuan was no longer sitting there alone, and there were people around him.
"I heard that an Asian dark horse emerged in yesterday's preliminary round?"
"Yes, from China, very young, the girl is only 13 years old..."
"Ah, that really is a little girl. Today we're competing in the waltz. This kind of dance really only looks better when it's performed by older children, right?"
"Since he is first in the preliminaries, he must be very strong. I am looking forward to it."
The audience entering the venue made comments from time to time.
Ji Tiantian also heard some discussions and felt nervous for no reason.
Unlike relatively fixed dance performances, the atmosphere in a competition is fluid. Sometimes, no one has expectations of you, and sometimes, expectations suddenly increase.
Ji Tiantian, who has relatively strong perception, is not very able to adapt to this change.
In order to suppress her nervousness, she lowered her head and began to check her costume. She was still wearing the short dance costume she wore in the National Championships, with blue swallowtail butterflies and a flowing and elegant black skirt.
"Wow, a porcelain doll!"
At this moment, Katerin from the Big Goose Group came over and hugged Ji Tiantian warmly, "Congratulations on advancing to the finals! I knew you could do it! You have the temperament of a dancer at first glance!"
Ji Tiantian finally broke free from Katerin's perfumed embrace and took a deep breath. Coming to the finals meant competing with medal contenders like Katerin and Lillian.
The theme this time was waltz. Catherine had her blonde hair tied up and wore a white suspender skirt. It was a simple and elegant look, but it brought out her curvy figure and pretty face to the fullest, and her whole body seemed to be glowing.
At this time, Lillian from Britain also arrived surrounded by her juniors. She was wearing a pink dress with flowing skirt, and walked by with her chin held high as if no one was around.
A game is like a grand dance.
If Katerin was a cheerful and talkative queen, then Lillian was an arrogant princess. They looked so beautiful and dazzling, like the pearls of the competition, outshining the other contestants. Even their male companions lost a lot of their presence in front of them.
"You have to work hard. I have high hopes for you." Katerin winked at Ji Tiantian.
"Thank you, I will." Ji Tiantian took a deep breath and tried hard to control her nervousness.
This time we are serious. We must perform well.
Ji Tiantian felt the string in her mind tighten.
After warming up, the short dance competition began.
"Group one, China, Ji Tiantian, Tang Yi." The broadcast sounded.
Ji Tiantian grabbed Tang Yi's hand and came to the center of the ice with the sound of a palm.
"Come on!" Ni Chuan's voice was heard again on the field. Apart from Ni Chuan, there were few other cheers at the scene.
Although Ji Tang achieved remarkable results in the preliminaries, few people paid attention to them. In the eyes of many ice fans, they are still unknown little characters.
It is completely incomparable with the highly anticipated Big Goose Group and the British Group.
Ji Tiantian closed her eyes, got into ready position, and concentrated on the competition.
She felt the coldness of the ice and the emptiness of the stadium. The Moonlight Sonata began to flow, the lonely and sad melody gathered into a river, and she danced in the river.
Ji Tiantian chased Tang Yi on the ice. She held his hand and gently placed one hand on his arm.
She slowly lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the butterfly embroidered on his chest. They were like two butterflies, flying thousands of miles to get here.
Past achievements and efforts are no longer important; they are going to create new history here.
In the icy snow, they held hands together. Together, they gently swung their legs, and their bodies swayed gently to the rhythm. Left, right, switching legs, and continuing.
The pattern dance portion of the short dance is completed.
The two of them danced in a pattern together with the floating leg bent and sucked on the knee of the sliding leg, and began to lift.
Ji Tiantian leaned her back on Tang Yi's shoulder, lifted one leg, put one hand around Tang Yi's shoulder to lift the ice skate on the other foot, and waved the other hand gently beside her like a butterfly wing.
She faced the lights above the stadium, and accompanied by smooth music, she and Tang Yi slid in a light arc, completing the arc with a lift.
They began to twirl to the quickening beat.
The synchronized twisting step of ice dancing emphasizes synchronization. Although many excellent players have increased their speed, they cannot keep up with the synchronization rate and thus cannot get good scores.
Ji Tang on the ice surface spun forward lightly, like two gusts of wind rushing forward, in an orderly and powerful manner.
As the music ended, their short dance ended successfully.
"The technical moves are very sophisticated... It's rare among Asian players."
"But it doesn't seem as amazing as others say..."
There were murmurs in the audience.
Amidst applause, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi bowed out calmly.
They waited in the equal section for their short dance score of 52.36.
Judging from the score alone, it was an improvement over the domestic competition. But Ji Tiantian knew very well that she did not perform as well as in the preliminaries.
She wanted to win so badly that she wanted to increase her skating speed, but she didn't use the edge properly in some steps. The connecting steps were probably not at level 3. The steps of ice dance are like a long breath, and you can't relax in the middle, otherwise you will be demoted easily.
However, even if the step sequence is level 2, she thinks their results should not be too bad with the stable performance of other technical moves. Level 2 step sequence is basically the standard configuration of the youth group.
Other contestants finished one after another, and then the short dance rankings were listed.
First place: Katerin Ilyich of Russia, 61.27
2nd place: Lillian Michael of the United Kingdom 55.84
3rd place: Ana Relo of Spain 54.21
Ji Tang ranked sixth with 52.36.
Ji Tiantian looked up at the display screen silently.
Katerin's team performed really well this time, with the step sequence at level 3 and the pattern dance and other technical movements at level 4. She and her partner are in a sweet period, and this emotion has more or less had a positive impact on their performance. The two of them dancing the waltz on the ice gave people the feeling of being at a wedding, full of love and tension. Both the T score and the P score have points that can be added, so they are far ahead of other players.
After the Katerin group, it was like a gathering of experts, with a group of people with similar scores in the top 2-5.
Of course, there are people in this group whose technical scores are not as good as Ji Tang, but they surpass Ji Tang thanks to the program content scores.
The content score of a show is really frustrating because it is so subjective.
"This result is very good. We ranked sixth in the short dance. This is something that Lao Xu and I would never have thought of during our service." Jiang Lin came over and rubbed Ji Tiantian's drooping head. "Waltz is not difficult compared to other dances with more intense rhythms. But slow dances also have their difficulties. It emphasizes the interaction between the two contestants, that kind of hormones and charm. Children will inevitably have disadvantages in dancing this kind of adult social dance."
"I am indeed a child." Ji Tiantian was still depressed.
"She is the best kid." Jiang Lin continued to rub Ji Tiantian's head. "If you keep up this performance, we will be able to send two groups of players to the World Youth Championship next year!"
"Yes, yes, you are already very good." Xu Chi echoed.
Ever since the results of the preliminary round came out, Xu Chi has been praising the two players he is responsible for, saying they are really good.
But for some reason, the two of them always looked unwilling. This made Xu Chi dumbfounded. In his imagination, it shouldn't be like this.
Like the World Championships, if a pair of players can rank third to tenth in the final total score of the World Junior Championships, then two pairs of players will be able to participate next year.
In the past, contestants from my country and even all of Asia were struggling to rank around 20th in the short dance. If they were not careful, they might fall out of the top 20 and could not even make it to the free dance competition, let alone get into the top ten.
Overall, 6th place is a really good result. Not only did we advance steadily in the free dance, but we can also bring in one more group of contestants next year.
The country's resources are limited, and the quota for the World Youth Championships and the World Championships is directly related to the deployment of the Sports Bureau next year, and how much resources the Sports Bureau will give to ice and snow events. From this perspective, Ji Tang and his team will definitely have a better training environment in the future. As long as they maintain their current performance.
The more Xu Chi thought about it, the more he felt that the future was full of hope.
But he just couldn't understand why the two children always looked dissatisfied. He didn't know what to do.
"You are still young and have plenty of time. Don't be in a hurry to achieve results, okay?" This is all Xu Chi could say in the end.
Ji Tiantian nodded. She knew everything Xu Chi said, as well as the current situation of ice dancing in her motherland.
But she just wouldn't accept it and always felt it could be better.
Only when she got here did she realize that competition was really different from performance.
She had never felt such a strong sense of unwillingness when she stood on the stage before.
I really want to win. I really want to win.
Ji Tang returned to the hotel after the competition. Because of the resentment in her heart, Ji Tiantian couldn't rest well. While Jiang Lin was discussing with Xu Chi, Ji Tiantian slipped out of the room to relax.
She didn't walk far, just strolled in the aisle next to the hall, and then she saw a familiar pair of contestants coming towards her.
Ji Tiantian looked closely and saw that they were the Spanish contestants, Anna and Lei Luo, who won the third place in the short dance. She remembered that Tang Yi had mentioned their resumes. Both of them were 16 years old and participated in the World Youth Championship for the third time. Their best result was fifth.
"You look a little uneasy." The Spanish male partner Lei Luo said to Ji Tiantian with a smile, "You are from China, right? I know you. You performed very well in the preliminaries, and the free dance must be good as well. You should rest well, there is still a chance to overtake."
"Thank you." Ji Tiantian's eyes lit up. She finally heard the words she wanted to hear.
"What about you guys?" Ji Tiantian looked at Anna, who looked melancholy. "What are you worried about?"
Lei Luo then told Ji Tiantian that their country's ice dance youth group was in a blowout state and the competition was extremely fierce. If they didn't perform well in this World Youth Championship, they might not be able to come next time and would be replaced by newcomers.
"After Katerin, everyone's scores are very close. Although we are ranked well now, we don't know what will happen after the free dance." Lei Luo gave Ji Tiantian a bitter smile, "Of course, being surpassed can only be attributed to our lack of strength, and it has nothing to do with others... You should not have any concerns in this regard, right? I have been paying attention to international youth competitions, and there are very few Chinese players. I don't mean anything else, I just think this may be a good thing."
There is a scarcity of domestic players, so there is no fierce competition within the country. A good thing is always accompanied by a bad thing.
"Everyone has their own difficulties." Ji Tiantian could only say this. As the only young player in the youth group in China, or in Asia, the pressure must be great.
There are many invisible ceilings waiting for them to break through, and many inherent prejudices that need to be corrected. No one can replace them.
"But I think you guys are really good. There's no need to be too nervous about being third." Ji Tiantian came back to her senses and smiled to comfort her well-intentioned opponent.
"Anna and I were neighbors before we learned ice dancing together. We grew up together." Lei Luo introduced them to Ji Tiantian.
"Wow, childhood sweethearts!" Ji Tiantian showed an admiring look.
"Our relationship has always been very stable, just like that of family members. We can't perform the touching emotions like Katerina. Even the commercial emotions between dance partners like Lillian can't be performed on the ice." Lei Luo said with a wry smile, "We can't interpret a strong relationship with ups and downs. I'm worried that this will make us... unable to get the ideal score in the free dance."
"How could that be?" Ji Tiantian said with a smile, "If you can't interpret a strong relationship, then don't try to interpret it. Interpret what you are good at." In her previous life, she was a dancer and a choreographer, so she had some experience in dance collaboration.
"Things I'm good at..." Lei Luo and Anna were a little confused.
"I watched your short dance and felt that you had more tacit understanding than others. If you deepen this tacit understanding, you will definitely succeed." Ji Tiantian said with a smile.
Anna and Lei Luo stared at Ji Tiantian in a daze. Sometimes the person in charge is confused and needs outsiders to enlighten him.
"Thank you, I seem to suddenly know what to do." Anna excitedly held Ji Tiantian's hand.
Ji Tiantian nodded somewhat embarrassedly. She didn't mind her opponent becoming stronger, because she could also be inspired by other people's works and become stronger.
"Wow, it's that elementary school student from the Chinese team!"
At this moment, Ji Tiantian heard a soft cry from behind. She turned around and saw that it was indeed a group of British contestants. They seemed to have just returned from shopping.
"It's so late, and you're still chatting with other contestants?"
"Getting into the top ten is a very good result for her. There's no need to be too nervous." Lillian smiled and spoke to her teammates.
Ji Tiantian was already feeling unwilling, and after hearing what Lillian said, she suddenly couldn't hold back.
"Do you have any opinion about me?" She was silent for a moment, walked up, held her head high, and looked straight at Lillian.
"I'm just telling the truth." Lillian crossed her arms and looked at Ji Tiantian coldly.
Lillian was really impressed by the performance of the Chinese team in the preliminaries, and was a little worried that her position would be shaken. But their short dance made her realize that her worries were unnecessary.
As expected, she is just a lucky elementary school student. She and her partner don't always perform amazingly. Their technique is not stable enough, and their performance is not favored by the judges. They will not pose any threat.
"With your current stability and age, it would be great if you could get into the top ten and not have to participate in the preliminaries next year." Lillian looked at Ji Tiantian calmly and said lightly, "This is the case for all Asian players."
To Ji Tiantian, these words sounded like—
I'm not targeting you, an Asian player.
I'm talking to all of you.
Ji Tiantian paused and suddenly laughed.
"Don't listen to her, you have a chance to overtake." Lei Luo noticed that the atmosphere was a little subtle and immediately spoke to Ji Tiantian.
"There is something I want to make clear." Ji Tiantian was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke. Her childish voice was clear and calm.
The corridor fell silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes were focused on Ji Tiantian.
She raised her chin high and looked at Lillian, the resentment in her eyes brewing like a roaring storm.
Why? Why should I accept my fate at such a young age?
Why should an Asian player accept his fate?
Your "very good" is not my "very good".
"My goal here is not to get into the top ten." Ji Tiantian clenched her fists, "See you in the free dance competition."
-over-
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