116 urine test positive
◎ Before the game even started, China and the United States had already made a move.◎
After returning to the national team, Song Linzhou took back Zhu Qi's racket.
Zhu Qi tried the racket after the heavy pressure. He didn't expect much, but after playing for a while, he found that the wood core had indeed returned to its previous tight state, and the sound was clearer, unlike the dull feeling of the racket that had been used for a long time.
Zhu Qi thought this was very interesting. If she could get this cooperation done, she could get a free re-pressing of the racket after sales.
"I want the blueprints of this machine that can press the ball racket." Zhu Qi felt that his request was a bit excessive.
This ball-pressing machine was quite advanced at the moment. It must have been designed and custom-made by his provincial team coach. However, Song Linzhou hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Okay."
Zhu Qi was a little surprised that Song Linzhou agreed so readily.
After all, I am in the same industry as the provincial team coach, and he would definitely not reveal it to me easily if they were rivals.
But within two days, Song Linzhou brought a drawing of a ball pressing machine and a custom-made factory and handed it to Zhu Qi.
"So fast?" Zhu Qi had only been saying it, but she hadn't expected it to go so easily. She seemed a bit cheeky to ask for it so hastily. "This should have been designed by someone yourself, right? Should we split the design fee?"
"That's not necessary," Song Linzhou said jokingly with a smile. "My provincial team coach is also interested in your racket. If you want to open a branch in the future, just discuss distributor qualifications with him."
"That... is too long ago," Zhu Qi said with a smile. "My store has only been open for less than two weeks. How can we open a branch so soon?"
"It's just a matter of time." Song Linzhou followed.
This guy is quite good at giving compliments, but he looks so sincere when he says it that you can't tell he's just flattering.
In the week after returning to the team, Zhu Qi's training focused on normal ball pulling for rehabilitation.
In just two months, Zhu Qi felt that the level of these young girls in the team had changed dramatically.
I previously thought Youyou had some issues with his forehand form, always struggling to keep up with the fourth stroke and easily missing the ball. I heard Xu Dong addresses this daily, training Youyou with left and right corner catches, five ten-minute sets a day. Now, Zhu Qi feels his touch is definitely better.
Sasa had previously performed poorly in the women's doubles at the World Championships. After returning, Foye and Ren Xinhua both felt that the problem lay in Sasa's lack of flexibility in her steps, so they made her practice core exercises on the pole every morning and evening.
Maomao has been in very good shape recently. After winning the gold medal in the latest World Cup, he has completed the training very quickly during this period. It feels that all indicators of his body have reached the golden period before.
Especially A Shui.
Although Ah Shui has competed extensively over the years and accumulated a wealth of experience in major tournaments, the team has always considered her a doubles player. Doubles, with its one-person-one-paddle nature, places greater emphasis on the quality of the paddle, and after passing the transition paddle, there's no need to think about catching the next ball.
But according to Qin Xiaoba, Sister Xia has been playing solo against A Shui for the past two months, and the whole game has become more systematic.
"It feels a little early to say this, but Maomao is 25 years old this year after all. The next Riyadh World Games might be Maomao's last," Zuo Zuo quietly counted on his fingers as Zhu Qi followed. "And by then, Youyou, I, and the players below us will be too young. The coaching staff will definitely have to take precautions."
A Shui is the reserve force prepared by the coaches in advance.
Everyone around me is improving.
Zhu Qi naturally couldn't be left behind.
Fortunately, I trained with He Qianlu in the Jianghuai Provincial Team for a month, so my basic skills were not affected.
The coach of the Bayi team also called the hospital to inquire about the situation. Now that he knew Zhu Qi had returned to Beijing, the old man asked Ren Xinhua to hand a document to Zhu Qi.
Written on it is an application to join the party.
At the bottom of the introduction section are the signatures of Ren Xinhua and the old man.
Although the procedures for joining the Party are not as complicated as they were more than 20 years ago, they are by no means simple.
There's a lot to prepare, including an application, an autobiography, a report on one's thoughts, political review materials, and an activist assessment. It takes at least a year to officially become a party member.
Although Zhu Qi is already a serving soldier, joining the army is different from joining the party. Ah Shui was very envious when he saw this. Last year, Maomao was also recommended by Ren Xinhua to join the party, and this year it was Zhu Qi's turn.
Among the members of the Bayi Table Tennis Team, only Zhu Qi and Daxiong, who won the singles championship, were qualified to join the Party. Although the badminton team next door lost to the French team in the women's singles, the sisters of the Sunshine Combination also won the gold medal in the women's doubles at this World Games and received recommendation letters for joining the Party.
Some are happy, some are sad.
There is no such thing as constant victory in sports.
As per usual.
Before the National Table Tennis Championships, everyone in the team will undergo a physical fitness test.
Zhu Qi's physical exam results weren't ideal. His 30-meter sprint was one second slower than his average, his 400-meter run was three seconds slower than usual, his 1,000-meter run was five seconds slower, his standing long jump was three centimeters shorter, and he missed eight jumps in the double rope skipping test.
Zhu Qi sat cross-legged on the floor with a towel hanging around his neck. He looked very unhappy and seemed to be sulking with himself.
hateful.
I haven't played a game for two months and my body is rusty.
Zhu Qi looked down at the two small dots on both sides of his right ankle that marked the surgical scars. The color was slightly pinker than other parts of his foot. Whenever he moved his right foot slightly, he could feel a sutured ligament inside expanding and contracting slightly.
It might seem like only a few seconds less than your average, but in reality, it has a significant impact on a game. Your entire body will feel heavy and stiff, and you might even let go of balls you normally catch.
"Have something cold to cool down." Maomao took the opportunity to sit down. The two sat cross-legged facing each other, wiping their sweat while drinking soda. Maomao comforted her. "You're already lucky. When I just came back from surgery, I found that my body was so stiff that I almost forgot to swing the racket."
Maomao's words were meant as a joke.
But her subsequent rehabilitation training was indeed very difficult. After returning from Los Angeles, her condition was not very good. After three months of intensive training, she was able to regain about 70% of her previous level.
Maomao can understand Zhu Qi's emotions.
Because I have had the peak period of physical function, but I see my physical fitness level declining little by little. It is not a pleasant feeling to have the ball right in front of you but not be able to catch it.
It would be fine if the competitions at the end of this year weren't so dense.
Zhu Qi can still slowly find his touch in the national team and does not need to rush to return to his previous form.
Upon returning to the national team, Zhu Qi resumed his previous high-intensity training of four sessions a day, focusing on pushing his body to its limits. After midday training, he was soaking wet. After washing up, he went to the bathhouse drenched in sweat for afternoon training. Then, during the evening training session, he continued his training until he was exhausted. Ah Shui was impressed by Zhu Qi's dedication.
In fact, the National Table Tennis Championships is not that important to Zhu Qi. After all, he has won it once before and already has a Grand Slam title.
A Shui felt that Zhu Qi just had too strong a sense of responsibility. If it were someone else, he might have retired right away, gone home and lived out his monthly allowance as a World Games champion, thus achieving a happy life of retirement at the age of 21.
Actually, that’s not the case.
Zhu Qi also mainly wanted to see how long he could play, what position he could reach, and what achievements he could achieve.
I lived a mediocre life in my previous life, and this time I want to realize my personal value to the extreme.
At this point.
Maomao and Zhu Qi thought of the same thing.
Age has always been the biggest obstacle for athletes.
Xu Dong retired at the age of 26 due to severe physical strain and emotional impact.
After returning from the operation, especially with the rising star Zhu Qi starting to emerge, Maomao played every game he could participate in as if it were his last.
Maomao won the championship in this World Cup, which also shows that she is back in shape.
Coach Cun had previously hinted to the coaching staff that this National Table Tennis Championships was as important to Maomao as the World Games. Winning the "Miriam" Cup would alleviate her anxiety in future matches. For the national team, having two Grand Slam players in the same era was also an honor.
In fact, there is an unwritten rule in the national table tennis team, which is to give up points.
Many people don't understand this, and it's always been a gray area. When many fans first heard about the "handicap" task, they wondered if many of the so-called world champions we see today were internally recommended and "handed" out.
In fact, the phenomenon of "giving away the ball" was reported a long time ago.
The concept of "giving away the ball" first appeared because there is restraint between many technical and tactical systems.
For example, Zhu Qi played against Huang Jiajia of the Hong Kong team.
As a very talented chopper, Huang Jiajia is very good at restraining some players who rely on strong rotation of the board to score.
Zhu Qi was able to win purely because of his leading overall personal level and a lot of experience in major competitions.
If it were someone else, their winning rate might not be so high when facing Huang Jiajia.
However, if there are players with long rubbers on the team, this is not necessarily the case. Ah Shui's long rubbers are actually very effective against choppers, because long rubbers always produce counterspin. When a chopper slices a topspin ball and then hits it back, it becomes backspin again. She has to follow the backspin or chop the backspin back into topspin. This actually makes the chopper's game more difficult, and the long rubbers have a higher chance of winning.
When playing against such a slicer in the next game.
There may be such a "giving away the ball" task in the game of "a spin flow player with a lower winning rate" or "a long rubber player with a higher winning rate" to see who has a better chance of winning the championship for China.
Many people of the older generation actually don’t care whether they are world champions or not. The most important thing is that the Chinese win the world championship, so the task of “giving away the ball” is not that serious for them, and everything is based on obeying orders.
But times are always progressing.
People nowadays are more impetuous.
It is no longer the 1960s and 1970s when collective honor outweighed individual honor.
Therefore, we can no longer use the strategies of the older generation to look at current players.
Ren Xinhua naturally understood the hint given to him by Coach Cun.
"'Giving away points' itself is a rule in a gray area. The older generation had the 'giving away points' rule because they were afraid that the person who won against the foreign team would be difficult to beat, so they let the person who was more confident of winning against the foreign team play. But judging from the current draw results, Baobao and Maomao are not in the same half. If both of them can make it to the finals, the championship will surely fall into the hands of China. Is there still a need for 'giving away points' in that case?" Ren Xinhua frowned, and naturally understood what Coach Cun meant.
As a coach.
Who wouldn't want a Grand Slam under their wing? That would also give the coach a lot of face.
The women's table tennis team has not won a Grand Slam in twelve years. They finally have one, and the coach is Xu Dong, the least experienced coach on the team.
Xu Dong's status in the coaching team has naturally risen as well.
Coach Cun didn't respond because he knew Ren Xinhua wouldn't agree, and he just said it casually.
But what Coach Cun said casually made Maomao very unhappy.
"How do you know I can't win on my own?" Maomao clutched her racket, looking at the coach who had been with her since she joined the national team. She lost her temper for the first time. "If you tell the chairman like this, I'll look like a thief."
As the captain of the women's team in the past few years, Maomao has become more leadership-oriented, and now she can criticize her head coach in a more competent manner.
Coach Cun knew that what he was doing was not right, so he didn't dare to say anything. He just muttered, "I just made a suggestion, I didn't say it must be done this way."
And everyone in the team knows that Zhu Qi is now ahead of all active female players in terms of technical level and competition experience.
There might be a slight difference in physical fitness due to having just undergone surgery, but it will definitely not be a problem.
As a coach, I naturally hope that my players can win 100%.
But because of this, the cat became even angrier.
The athletes' competitive spirit is immeasurable. Even their head coach seems to think that they will lose. This feeling makes Maomao feel very frustrated and annoyed.
"I don't need anyone to give me a hand, and I don't need a championship that comes from someone else. I hope this is the first and last time you have such thoughts. Since I became an athlete, every victory I've won has been the result of my own hard work, and this will also be the case in the future."
Maomao said it directly.
Coach Cun also knows the personality of his apprentice.
The idea of "giving up the ball" emerged in his mind for less than a day before it was strangled in the cradle.
A month later.
The countdown to the opening ceremony of the Florida National Table Tennis Championships has begun.
Five days before the start of the competition, the Chinese table tennis team was ready and flew to the United States.
My aunt told me that the store sells about 70 to 80 rackets per month, and most of the sales are from word of mouth, such as recommendations from acquaintances.
Zhu Qi didn't expect that it would sell so well in this era when the Internet was not yet developed.
She originally thought that earning around 10,000 yuan a month was pretty good.
It seems that the branch that Song Linzhou mentioned last time can indeed be considered, but with Zhu Qi's current energy, there is definitely no way to realize this. Moreover, his family members live in Jianghuai and it is impossible for them to come to Chaojing to open a store.
That family did not go to her uncle's house to return the 60,000 yuan to Zhu Qi. Zhu Qi naturally had to do what she said. She would go back and settle the account with that family after she finished the table tennis tournament.
When we landed, it was already evening in the US.
The dusk on the sea horizon looked a little hazy. The smell of the tide and the smell of sand carried by the distant wind reminded Zhu Qi of the Jianghuai seaside.
It also touched upon something deep in Zhu Qi's memory, which was one of his few memories of his mother.
She remembers being very young, held in her mother's arms, and watching people rowing boats on the river with envy. Back then, the child had no concept of the world beyond the sea; she only knew how cool it felt to be on a boat, steering wherever she went.
The words her mother said to her before she passed away suddenly became clear in her mind.
She told Zhu Qi that no matter what she did in the future, it didn’t matter whether she had money or not, the most important thing was to be healthy and happy.
After meeting that family, Zhu Qi suddenly felt relieved of some emotions that had been accumulating in his heart.
Before I met that man, I would always think of the past from time to time. He was like a piece of trash that I couldn't get rid of, always following me around.
Now that she had seen them and knew they were not doing well, she felt relieved.
She will... no longer have nightmares.
After the coaches helped the players move their belongings and counted all the suitcases, Ren Xinhua stood in front of everyone and said, "We're about to enter the hotel. Everyone, please check your belongings. I heard that security in Florida is not very good. To prevent your belongings from being stolen, try not to carry large amounts of cash when you go out..."
When Zhu Qi heard the coach say that the security in Florida was bad, he almost laughed out loud.
Ah Shui was also a little worried: "I also heard when I came here that there is no gun ban in the United States. This is so unsafe."
normal.
Free America, shooting every day.
Zhu Qi explained, "Actually, public safety is poor across the United States, but Florida is more famous for it. The American system is different from ours, and each state...just like the laws between provinces in our country, they have different laws. For example, you can smoke in one state, but not in another, and you'll be fined because that state has a no-smoking zone. There's a TV station in Florida that specializes in reporting on all the bizarre crimes that happen every day, which is why Florida is so famous."
There are also some political factors. In the past, there were conflicts between the United States and Cuba, and the claim that Cuban people could come to the United States unconditionally to obtain green cards was intended to disgust the Cuban government. When the Cuban government officials at the time heard this, they were very happy and threw a lot of criminals that could not be accommodated in the prison to Florida. They even started a series of "signing on behalf of others" to obtain Cuban citizenship for free and then transfer to the United States to obtain green cards. Therefore, there are many descendants of criminals thrown over by Cuba at that time in Florida, and they have criminal genes. Coupled with the TV programs in Florida, there are new fun things to see every day, and the "Florida does not support idle people" joke was born in China.
"Ah?" Qin Xiaoba was shocked. "Can their president handle this?"
"It's a free country after all," Zhu Qi shrugged. "It's always better to be careful."
From the moment he landed, Ah Shui felt uneasy and worried for some reason. "We really need to be careful. This time the entire competition is held in the United States, and Jamie is also participating. It's so annoying. Why does this eunuch always haunt us? It's so annoying. Last time, he caused your foot injury to relapse and another cut on your face. If something goes wrong this time, our national team will have to write a report and complaint letter to the International Table Tennis Federation. We can't let this grandson bully us Chinese so brazenly. At least... a 999-year ban... v"
Having said that, sending a complaint letter probably won't do any good.
Three months have passed since the last competition in Moscow. Zhu Qi doesn't think Jamie can develop any killer weapon or undergo a complete transformation in these three months.
But she didn't think this group of people had any very high bottom line. It was just that after the draw list came out, Jamie was not in the same half as Zhu Qi.
I don’t know if the American team was involved in any of this, and I was afraid that if I revealed the secret and ran into Zhu Qi, I would be eliminated early, so I chose the half of the group where Maomao was.
Before the Chinese team arrived, the American team had already made a show of strength.
The group waited at the airport entrance for nearly two hours, but no one from the United States came to pick them up. Later, when they saw that the players could not stand the cold, the coaching staff called four cars and took the players and coaches back to the hotel together.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, Ren Xinhua received a greeting from the American team: "Oh, dear friends from the Chinese team, our airport reception staff has arrived at the exit gate... What do you mean you're already at the hotel? Oh, well, maybe I think you should have let us know before leaving the airport, so we don't have to go over there. What do you think?"
They were clearly late, but it ended up being like the Chinese team had left without prior notice. Ren Xinhua was practically pissed off and laughed: "I think next time if you have any problems on the way and are three hours late for the agreed time, you could just let us know in advance. That way, we can come to the hotel on our own, and we'll also let you know in advance that we don't need to pick you up. What do you think?"
The game hasn't even started yet, but China and the United States have already made a move.
But this call also shows that the US team will definitely do its best to serve as the host in this competition.
Ren Xinhua was also extremely alert and told all the coaches: "During this competition in Florida, whether it's food, clothing, housing, transportation, equipment inspections, or when American players come over to talk to our players during training, we must be highly vigilant."
"Yes..." The coaches were also a little worried.
But I also feel that it is not a solution to keep on tolerating like this. These people have no bottom line. Who knows what tricks they will use to mess with the Chinese team this time.
Less than 10 minutes after checking into the hotel, Zhu Qi hadn't even had time to pack his tennis bag when he suddenly received a notice from the International Table Tennis Federation that inspectors were coming to conduct urine tests on the players.
"Why are we doing a urine test now?" The blue team also followed downstairs mumbling.
"Exactly. Aren't urine tests usually required after the competition? Now they're being asked to do so before the competition even begins. It's really annoying."
"It seems that this is what the American organizers meant. They said that there is no point in testing for doping after the competition because the gold medal has already been taken away. It would be better to conduct urine tests before the competition and disqualify those who have used performance-enhancing drugs directly."
"That's hilarious! The competition is still five days away. Even if someone is found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs, they would have already been metabolized by the time of the competition. Psycho..."
The players were all in a bad mood as they had waited at the airport for more than two hours and then took another hour by car to get to the hotel.
The United States is doing this now, and they really can't think of any other reason other than to mess with the Chinese team.
In fact, for table tennis players, almost no one takes stimulants.
Because table tennis is not like swimming and track and field, which rely purely on physical fitness.
Taking stimulants will affect the quality of your playing. You will not be able to control the strength in your hands. You may feel as if you are using normal strength, but in fact the ball you hit will be even more uncontrollable.
However, a urine test is still required.
Under the watchful eyes of two supervising staff members, Zhu Qi completed the entire urine test process, sealed the plastic cup containing his liquid, and put his name in a sealed box.
I had planned to go to the training hall and practice for another two hours, but after the urine test, it was already 11 o'clock when A Shui and Maomao came back from the test, so they had to pack up and go to bed early.
When Ah Shui came back, he was also cursing: "I really don't know what those two urine testers were thinking. They insisted that my volume was not enough and told me to pee full. In the end, I couldn't pee and had to drink another bottle of water. I held it in for half a day and waited for half an hour before I squeezed out a little."
Maomao was lying on his bed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Fortunately, we don't have to do urine tests very often. Go to bed early. We have to go to the training hall to train tomorrow."
But no one expected that a common urine test for athletes would almost lead to very serious negative news for the Chinese team.
When Zhu Qi woke up the next day, he heard Master Fo banging on the door outside the suite.
"Cat! Wake up! Open the door for me."
When the three girls walked out of their rooms, they all felt that the Buddha's voice sounded very anxious, and everyone felt that something was wrong.
After Maomao opened the door, he saw the sullen-looking Buddha standing outside and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ashui's urine test was positive. You may be disqualified from this competition."
Ah Shui looked at the Buddha, whose eyes were fixed on him, and seemed to have some complicated feelings.
For a moment, Ah Shui thought he had heard wrongly.
How is this possible...
But then he heard the Buddha ask himself: "Have you... eaten anything you shouldn't have?"
Actually, Foye didn't mean that he thought Ah Shui had taken stimulants. Athletes can't eat pork because the ingredients in pork can cause athletes to test positive in urine. He just thought Ah Shui might have accidentally eaten similar ingredients...
But Ah Shui's eyes went dark, his head was spinning, and he almost screamed hysterically: "How is this possible! I didn't do it!"
【Author’s words】
I saw this incident in an old newspaper a few days ago. It was a misunderstanding and will be resolved in the next chapter. I wrote about it and also popularized it for my sisters~
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