124 Three Flags Raised Simultaneously
◎ Every China behind every person has a star.◎
Although almost everyone in the audience stood up and cheered, and the screams that overturned the ceiling were getting louder and louder, what Zhu Qi could hear most clearly was his own heartbeat.
In the joyful crowd, as the thousands of people swayed and moved, the reflected light beams made the dust in the air become extremely clear.
Zhu Qi's arms were still in the posture of swinging the racket and gathering strength, because... this game had almost exhausted all her strength.
My right foot is sore, my lumbar spine feels heavy, and my shoulders are shaking...
If he played another game, Zhu Qi felt that he had no chance of winning.
She knew that the applause was not for the winner of the game, but for the two players who played a wonderful game.
Many years later, many fans excavated the women's singles final known as the "Battle of Florida". Many people said that Maomao was the player who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhu Qi in that era, and by the way, they also dragged down Zaiyuan Xiang, who lived next door and claimed every day that she was Zhu Qi's only rival.
【Little Sakura, please don't cue our sisters. 】
[It's okay to form a couple, but the starting point is the world champion.]
[Team Cat really managed to survive on their own until the little leopard evolved into its full form.]
【From now on, you won't see a single blond hair on the podium ^-^】
[Tokyo Cats and Moscow Leopards, I call them the hegemons of the 90s.]...
But people of this generation don’t have so many jokes, but their compliments are more direct.
While changing into award-winning uniforms and waiting for the flag-raising ceremony, reporters could no longer wait to rush in, shouting at the top of their lungs through the partition.
"Zhu Qi! Interview! Say a few words!"
Zhu Qi glanced at the American organizer staff who were still tidying up the national flags, and made a "1" gesture, meaning just one sentence.
The reporters nodded hurriedly and asked, "This is your second time winning the 'Miriam' Cup, and you won it in a thrilling seven-game battle against your old teammate. If you win it again, you'll have won three consecutive National Table Tennis Championships and won the second Women's Singles Replica Cup besides Chairman Ren. How do you feel now?"
"First of all, this game was played with great quality. Afterward, I was in a state of relaxation, wanting to clear my mind completely. I also think this victory belongs to the Chinese team. Although it may seem like I won three games by a large margin, in reality, if you look at the score, I scored a total of 54 goals, while Maomao scored 57, three more than me. It was also probably my luck that I had the advantage in the scoreline. If it had been a 21-point game, I might not have been so lucky."
After that, several reporters also expressed high praise for Zhu Qi's answer: "Thank you for your answer, you worked hard in the competition."
Zhu Qi was about to say "It's okay" when Ah Shui, who was also dressed in his award-giving uniform, called him away: "Bao Bao, come here quickly, get ready to receive your award!"
The "convex"-shaped podium was the center of everyone's attention.
The organizers started with the bronze medal introduction: [The bronze medalist of this Florida National Table Tennis Championships is Fang Miao from the Chinese team.]
A Shui subconsciously adjusted his collar, then stepped onto the podium on the left, and waved to the crowd and the camera.
The audience immediately responded with loud cheers.
The camera also moved to Chang Hongxia, who gave a thumbs up to the camera to express her recognition of A Shui's performance in this National Table Tennis Championships.
After fighting with Xi Ling'en for nearly an hour and a half, Ah Shui still hasn't recovered. When he went on stage, he felt his knees were still shaking.
Oh, that's so strange.
It’s not like I haven’t been on stage to receive awards before, including at the World Games, but this time I felt exceptionally nervous.
Next up is the silver medalist: […also from the Chinese team—Zu Tianjiao]
Maomao looked very calm. In fact, after the final, Zhu Qi was a little hesitant to talk to Maomao. Instead, Maomao came over and joked with her, "You played really well. I almost died at the table."
The ball that was broken by Zhu Qi and Maomao was taken away by the vice president of the American organizing committee, the Table Tennis Federation. He even came over and asked Zhu Qi and Maomao to sign half of the ball respectively, saying that he thought it had collection value and wanted to take it back to frame it and hang it in his office.
Zhu Qi and Maomao thought that these foreigners had very unique ways of thinking. What was the point of collecting them? It was not like anyone had ever cracked a ball.
But they do like this sense of ritual, unlike the simple Chinese who only care about practicality.
Finally, standing on the podium was the winner of the "Miriam" Cup.
When introducing Zhu Qi, the prefix of the organizer was a little longer, and Zhu Qi's previous record was also included.
[Winner of the "Miriam" Cup from 1995 to 1998, champion of this year's National Table Tennis Championships——]
This year's award-winning dress has a gold background with red patterns. When standing in the white light column, the gold award-winning dress looks very noble.
To describe it in one word, it is imperial color.
Three golden-haired girls stood on the stage, with Zhu Qi as the dividing line between them, holding each other's hands and waving to the audience.
The palms of A Shui and Maomao felt a little hot.
It was as if an endless stream of energy was flowing into Zhu Qi.
What a magical scene.
The three people on the stage are all Chinese.
In fact, a similar scene occurred during the World Games in the 1980s, but in order to prevent China from dominating the table tennis event, the number of athletes in the competition was forcibly changed from three athletes per country to two athletes per country.
But the National Table Tennis Championships is different.
As long as you are ranked in the top 64 in the world, you will automatically get a place in the competition.
So... this scene happened again.
Three bright red national flags were hung on the flagpoles.
At Zhu Qi's feet was the "Miriam" cup that she had brought back to the national team for three years. At the bottom, there was another string of numbers just below the previous string of names.
【1995-1998 Zhu Qi China】
【1999-2002 Zhu Qi China】
The three young girls watched the flag slowly rising, and the whole stadium was filled with battle folk songs with strong national characteristics and some style features of Western European marches.
Accompanied by a prelude like a marching bugle call, the red flag flew from the ground to the sky little by little.
This scene suddenly awakened memories of being dominated by the Chinese team decades ago in the eyes of many older generations who have worked in the field of table tennis for decades.
The music progresses layer by layer.
It was like an ancient dragon flying and coiling in the air.
For the three people on the podium, the song was played for each of them.
The girls' backs reflected the red flag slowly rising into the sky.
Behind every China, there is a star.
Deafening singing rang out in Florida, USA.
That day.
This victory scene with three flags raised at the same time was praised by countless fans in the future as a "World Famous Painting".
/
For the entire Chinese team, the women's singles swept the gold, silver and bronze medals, successfully completing the task, but it also increased the difficulty of the next National Table Tennis Championships.
In the men's singles, Song Linzhou once again won the "Pembroke" Cup. To some extent, Daxiong and Maomao can be said to have the same fate.
Just one piece of the Grand Slam puzzle is missing.
After the award ceremony, the International Table Tennis Federation organized an interview with the entire national table tennis team.
First question: [Your age is considered advanced among head coaches worldwide. Have you considered retirement?]
Second question: [Before leaving your position, who in the team do you think will take over your job?]
Third question: Regarding the outstanding performance of the Chinese women's table tennis team, you previously stated that the three women's players are already far ahead of other countries and will not be surpassed by foreign players for a long time. Will you adjust the allocation of team resources in the future to give the players more competition opportunities?
Let me describe it in plain words.
That is, you are not young anymore, almost 60 years old. When will you retire? If you don't retire, how can we build a stronger table tennis team to beat you?
Do you all think Zhu Qi, Maomao, and A Shui are the three strongest generals in the current meta? To build a strong team, would you consider training the next generation to serve as a bridge after the three retire? Also, give other foreign players a chance to stand on the podium!
Ah Shui could understand the voice-overs of these outsourced voices, and turned around to look at Zhu Qi and Maomao and smiled secretly.
The three girls looked at each other, trying not to laugh, as Ren Xinhua responded with a very polite summary: "If I announce my retirement, it must be because I've found a better candidate to take over my job. As for giving the young players some competition opportunities in the future, our national table tennis team has always advocated for the best to be promoted. I certainly hope that among these new batch of young players, there will be a few who can beat Zu Tianjiao and Zhu Qi. It all depends on their own efforts..."
What this means is that our future players will only become stronger, not weaker.
Then, a reporter, eager to see what's going on, asked, "I heard the Chinese national team is collaborating with various regions to allow foreign players to come to Beijing for two years of training. This means these foreign players will live, eat, and train with the Chinese national team players. Are you worried that these foreign players might be able to defeat the Chinese national team players in future world competitions?"
When Zhu Qi heard this question, he felt his eyebrows twitching slightly.
Ah Shui leaned back slightly, his lips barely moving as he whispered, "That's a tricky question. If you say you're not worried, doesn't that mean the Chinese team's coach won't teach seriously? And if you say you're worried, doesn't that mean we won't teach seriously?"
The men's team members nearby also heard Ah Shui's whispers, and they all looked over with expressions that said, "That's right."
Ren Xinhua smiled and replied, "There's an old Chinese saying, 'Teaching without distinction.' Translated, it means that when educating students, teachers don't care about their background, skin color, ancestry, or beliefs. With unified standards and requirements, when they come to the Chinese team, they'll experience the same training standards and the best resources as our own players. As for how far they'll develop in the future, that depends on their own abilities."
"Wow, wow, wow--" The players couldn't help but start applauding, feeling happy for Ren Xinhua's decisive answer.
Not only did Ren Xinhua not fall into the reporters' topic trap, he also advertised the national team.
We have the best students in our family. Would you like to live, eat, and train with them? Want to get up close and personal with the best athletes of the century? Want to experience the grueling training of China's top dream team? Then write to the General Administration of Sport of China!
Another reporter followed up with a question: "The United States has expressed high praise for several players competing in this year's National Table Tennis Championships. It's well known that the United States is also working to establish a table tennis team. If the United States expressed its desire to have its players train with the Chinese national team, would you agree?"
Ah Shui pouted, and his face was full of the words "retreat, retreat, retreat".
Ren Xinhua thought for a moment and then threw the question back: "If the United States and our General Administration of Sport reach an agreement, we would naturally welcome American players to train with our players. However, I think that as a developed country and a major economy with abundant talent, the United States should not need to train here."
Zhu Qi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Some reporters also understood the meaning of Ren Xinhua's words and laughed a few times.
In short, every interview will inevitably be set up by some reporters.
The content of the questions asked afterwards was no different from before.
After the ping-pong tournament, there won't be any major tournaments next year, except for the World Championships the year after. That way, we'll have two years to prepare, and the pressure won't be as high.
However, some of the things these reporters said made a lot of sense, which was the training of the next batch of players.
On the way back, the children sang and laughed all the way. The pressure of the competition that had lasted for so long was suddenly relieved, and they talked and laughed happily.
Especially the three sisters who won gold, silver and bronze medals this time, were surrounded by several young players from the female team.
"The longest match I have ever seen in my life is the one between Sister A Shui and the North Korean team. It lasted one and a half hours! One and a half hours! It's even longer than a badminton match!" As a left-handed player like A Shui, Zuo Zuo always thought that his position in the team was doubles. However, when he saw that A Shui was able to defeat Xi Ling'en, who was recognized as a North Korean team player with strength comparable to Zhu Qi and Maomao, he also became passionate and full of prospects for the future.
Ah Shui's excitement wore off, and now he felt the satisfaction of self-realization. He smiled and said, "Hey, it was just a lucky coincidence for me. Skills are mutually exclusive. I think I would have a hard time beating Jamie, but Xi Ling'en's anti-curve rubber can cut off all the quality shots on the board, which is a great counter to Jamie. And my long rubber is very good at beating anti-curve rubber. I can only say that the special rubber has the advantage."
"We all got three plaques this time. The coaching staff will definitely give us a good commendation!"
"I'm so hungry. I haven't had a proper meal in days. The meat at the delicious meal was dry and tough, and that cheese wasn't filling and made me fat. My belly is coming out!"
"The first thing I did when I got back to the national team was rush to the cafeteria with my suitcase. I was craving some noodles with soybean paste, rolled duck slices, and the soup that Master Liu made..."
"Stop talking, I'm drooling too."
Hearing the children's discussion, Ren Xinhua, walking in front, looked back at the young faces and smiled, "Everyone has worked hard this time. We encountered three major tournaments, the World Games, the World Championships, and then the National Table Tennis Championships. We were able to win all six gold medals in Moscow and two gold medals in the World Championships. At this National Table Tennis Championships, the women's table tennis team also raised three flags at the same time. The coaching staff and players have made great contributions, especially the several players who went on this expedition. You have won this honor for the country, and your names will go down in history in the future."
The children laughed heartily, and a few of them joined in the commotion playfully: "Celebration party! Celebration party! Celebration party!"
Ren Xinhua also smiled and said, "Don't worry, there will definitely be a celebration banquet. I'll take you out to have some fun and relax later."
"yeah--"
/
After packing up everything, everyone happily prepared to board the plane back to the national team.
The coach took the two holy grails back in separate boxes. In order to feel the aura from the "Miriam" cup, many girls clamored to touch the "Miriam" cup.
One by one, the little hands stroked the brim of the Holy Grail, and then each of them sighed.
This was the highest honor for table tennis players before the sport entered the World Games.
Zhu Qi looked at Xiao Lingdang standing quietly beside him, and pulled her over to touch it. Xiao Lingdang's eyes were bright and she smiled shyly.
“It’s really beautiful.”
"Yeah." Zhu Qi wanted to make a comment, but finally sighed.
The child didn't know why Zhu Qi sighed when he had already won almost all the honors. He just looked at Zhu Qi's expression curiously and sighed, "In the future, I want to carve my name on it, too."
Zhu Qi smiled and touched Xiao Lingling's head.
/
Before boarding the plane, Zhu Qi received good news.
Perhaps because they saw the overwhelming reaction from table tennis players around the world and feared a boycott of the World Games in Los Angeles eight years later, they lowered the blood testosterone standard from less than 10 nanomoles/liter to 3 nanomoles/liter.
Although it has reached many areas that are difficult for transgender people to reach, it is still much higher than that of normal women.
It can only be said that this is a "concession" by the United States, which wants to use this method to make other female players "shut up."
"Then can Jamie still participate in the competition in the future?" A Shui was a little happy.
Maomao said, "I guess it will be difficult."
Zhu Qi also said, "She can't even accept an award right now. After lowering her testosterone level, her level will only get lower. Even if she participates in the competition, she won't be able to do well."
The three girls looked at the horizon slowly rising into the sky, gazing across the other side of the ocean, their own country.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
