192 Extra (8)
◎We understand each other's rhythm.◎
After Qin Xiaoba came back, the national team started the devilish training again.
In 2004, the World Championships and the National Table Tennis Championships happened to be held together.
One starts in October and the other in November.
The task was very heavy and everyone was busy around the clock.
This is the first time that Maomao has participated in the three major competitions as a coach with his team of players.
Although Zhu Qi is considered a player in the Cat Group this time, Sasa, Youyou and Xiaolingdang are also going to participate in the competition, so the Cat has a heavy task of watching the training.
In the past two years, Zhu Qi has been changing his posture because the balls nowadays are seamless. When hitting, the rotation will be weaker and the arc will be flatter and straighter, making it difficult to create a loop.
So Zhu Qi began to adjust his racket shape. He used to hit the ball with the center of the racket and then rub it outwards, but now he has to place the racket at a more angle to increase friction.
Originally, Zhu Qi just wanted to try whether the seamless ball he hit in this way would have better results. After practicing for a while, Maomao was surprised watching him.
Although the rotation is a little weak, the movement is very small, very concealed, and the attack is fast, making it dazzling when it hits.
Maomao was holding a stopwatch in his hand. Although it was not very accurate in measuring the speed of the ball, the number displayed on it did decrease with every swing of Zhu Qi's racket.
The ball hit in this way can retain the fast break that the Chinese are best at, and can also increase the rotation of the seamless ball.
Zhu Qi has always loved to study his playing skills and likes to practice some new serves.
It can be said that the technical innovations of many players in the national team are following the path that Zhu Qi has tried and failed.
A Shui has been in very good shape recently.
He had a great harvest both on the court and in the love field. When he was practicing, he felt like he had endless energy in his body. Even Zhu Qi almost couldn't catch up with several balls.
This state of hormone injection is actually partly caused by stress.
The national team's policy of allowing players to date has both advantages and disadvantages.
The disadvantage is that many players who have just been promoted from the second team also began to secretly want to do something fancy.
But because they could not guarantee that they could be as good as Qin Xiaoba, they were sent back to the provincial team and then fought their way up.
And I know that if you want to be in a relationship, you actually have to pay more, that is, your condition and results must be better than before, otherwise the coach will not let you go.
The advantage is that it can really screen out a group of players with poor self-control.
Driven players know what they want from a young age, and then work hard to achieve that goal, ignoring any temptation.
This type of player is often the most successful.
Players who are affected in training by the slightest temptation will either remain in the first team as full-time sparring partners, or be dropped back to the second team in the round-robin tournament between the first and second teams and then be sent back to the provincial team.
Zhu Qi felt that what Maomao said was right, these people are the ones being eliminated by the times.
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The World Cup in October this year will be held in Rome, and the National Table Tennis Championships in November will be held in the capital of New Zealand, which happens to be the country farthest away from Italy. Therefore, the national team will have to fly to New Zealand immediately after the World Cup in Rome.
It takes a long time to cross these two places, so every day is very tight.
Before leaving, everyone prepared the essential items they would need for the two-month absence.
Zhu Qi's task this time is not heavy, she only needs to participate in the women's singles event of the National Table Tennis Championships.
A Shui is responsible for the women's singles and doubles of the World Championship Cup.
The women's doubles and men's doubles matches went particularly smoothly. A Shui and Qin Xiaoba each led a young player. This method of old leading new is very suitable for the current national table tennis team.
Many young players have undergone various devilish trainings in the national team. In fact, many of their skills and tactics have become professional. However, they sometimes feel a little nervous because they have too little game experience.
If there is a big player leading the way, the small players can get into the game as quickly as possible.
Under normal circumstances, A Shui and Qin Xiaoba should compete in the mixed doubles, after all, they have been practicing together in the Qilin combination for a long time.
But in order to avoid suspicion, A Shui and Qin Xiaoba were separated and replaced by two young players.
After it was hit, the effect looked even worse.
They only made it to the semi-finals and were then eliminated. In the end, the North Korean team won the gold medal in the mixed doubles of the World Championship Cup.
Zhu Qi did not participate in the World Cup this time, but he still attended all the interviews when it was his turn.
As soon as she came out of the waiting area, she was surrounded by reporters. They first asked why Zhu Qi did not participate in this World Cup, but when they saw the gauze wrapped around Zhu Qi's foot, they knew it might be a recurrence of an old injury.
Zhu Qi didn't really want to participate in the World Cup again. After all, he had already won it three times. There was no point in winning it again. It would be better to give the opportunity to other players and use the competition as training.
Then the reporters began to ask Zhu Qi what he thought about the Chinese team's mixed doubles defeat.
Over the years, the Chinese team has achieved very good results in all aspects, either first or second.
It was the first time I didn't make it to the finals.
Given Zhu Qi's personality, he would definitely be dissatisfied with this result.
However, many things need to be considered comprehensively. We cannot just look at the results, but need to analyze the reasons that led to this phenomenon.
After all, the game is over, so there is no need to think about the past. Instead, we should formulate future training plans and game arrangements based on the current results.
Zhu Qi then offered some politeness. "The players participating in the mixed doubles competition previously served as sparring partners for our main players during the World Games. Normally, they are selected to participate in world-class competitions because the coaching staff has evaluated their performance within the team and deemed them qualified..."
Zhu Qi said this to help the coaching staff save face today.
Now that the information age has arrived, many people who have the means will analyze the reasons for the loss of each game on major forums.
The activity level of Tieba is also very high now.
It can even be said that it is the only large-scale user platform in the country at present.
Before leaving, Zhu Qi went to the computer room to submit a registration form and took the opportunity to check his own fan forum, which already had 30,000 members.
This growth rate is incredible.
For the Chinese table tennis team, not winning the gold medal would be a disaster.
However, after Zhu Qi finished speaking, a reporter immediately followed up with a question: "So is the loss of this game related to the players?"
Zhu Qi knew someone would ask this question, so he had already thought of an answer: "Well, I haven't had time to watch their match yet, but I know the opponents they faced this time are very strong. I've met the North Korean mixed doubles team many times before, and my win rate wasn't very high. Moreover, Xi Ling'en and Song Shuibo are also a veteran mixed doubles pairing. Whether it's their tacit understanding of each other or their experience in competition, they are definitely far superior to the two young players we sent this time - of course, this is not an excuse for failure. After we return, we will definitely have to draw conclusions based on all aspects of this game. Fortunately, the women's doubles and men's doubles played well, and we will continue to work hard in the individual events. People on the national table tennis team are not afraid of failure. The important thing is not to stand still."
What Zhu Qi said made sense.
But another reporter joined in the fun and jokingly talked about another person: "So who do you think has been your best partner in your career?"
Zhu Qi was originally going to talk about Ah Shui and Maomao, but the reporter added, "The players in the mixed doubles—"
When it comes to mixed doubles.
Everyone's eyes were looking over from all directions.
Everyone looked at Zhu Qi with curiosity, expectation, and hints in their eyes.
Zhu Qi felt another gaze drifting towards her from the waiting room on the right. She knew who it was most likely without looking into the crowd.
Why should she avoid suspicion? Just tell the truth.
Zhu Qi tried to sound more dignified: "Judging from the number of matches and the winning rate...it's naturally Song Linzhou from the men's team."
"Someone calculated the winning rate of you and Song Linzhou and found that you played a total of 53 games, only one of which won the silver medal. The other 52 games all won gold medals..."
Zhu Qi listened and started to calculate.
Are there so many venues?
If you include some table tennis leagues, open tournaments, exhibition matches, challenge matches and some Asian and world-class competitions, it seems that there are indeed so many.
"...but when playing mixed doubles with others, the winning rate isn't as high. Why do you think that is?"
Zhu Qi could only say, "Part of the reason is that Song Linzhou is left-handed, so he has more room to move."
"But there's a left-handed player on the men's team who you've played with before, but I don't think they're as 'pleasing to the eye' as the Qilin combination. You won the mixed doubles championship the first time you played together in the Table Tennis League. What do you think is the fundamental difference between Song Linzhou and the other players?"
Zhu Qi looked up at the time next to him and found that there were still 20 minutes before the end of the interview.
Maomao was still chatting with some CCTV reporters nearby, completely ignoring Zhu Qi's look for help.
Zhu Qi: ...
Does she have to answer this question?
After thinking about it, Zhu Qi knew that he couldn't avoid the question if he didn't answer it honestly.
Thinking about it carefully, Zhu Qi had never thought about this problem after working with Song Linzhou for so long.
The mixed doubles competition was originally decided on a whim by the coaching staff.
Over the years, Song Linzhou's performance has indeed met Zhu Qi's requirements for a partner.
Whether it is the changes in landing points, rhythm trends, the exchange of each connecting ball, and the brief eye contact in the ever-changing situation.
In any case, as a partner of many years, Zhu Qi should also answer this question seriously.
But I feel like no matter what language I use to describe it, it doesn't seem to be quite right.
After much thought, Zhu Qi could only sum it up in one sentence.
“We understand each other’s rhythm.”
Among all the mixed doubles partners that Zhu Qi had in the past, Song Linzhou was indeed the one who knew Zhu Qi best.
Sometimes there is no need to speak, just a glance and Song Linzhou can know what Zhu Qi is thinking.
This kind of tacit understanding can actually be considered a kind of "talent".
Zhu Qi didn't know how Song Linzhou did it.
After a few more words of hesitation, the interview time was finally coming to an end.
A foreign reporter asked cheerfully, "During the National Table Tennis Team Championships, will there be a chance to see you and Song Linzhou team up in mixed doubles again?"
Zhu Qi was silent: "Maybe, it depends on the coaching staff's arrangements."
Seemingly satisfied with Zhu Qi's answer, the foreign journalists gave him a photo album.
It is covered with photos cut from newspapers from various countries, which look like a growth record book.
When Zhu Qi took it back to the suite and looked through it, he felt that these foreigners were actually quite particular about rituals.
This newspaper album is made like a notebook, with the year, month and day marked on it with pens of various colors.
The first half is photos of Zhu Qi's various individual competitions, including her first participation in the Macau World Cup, Asian Games, Asian Championships... her first "Miriam" Cup, and her first World Games singles gold medal.
Next up is women's doubles. Many people have played with Zhu Qi in women's doubles.
In addition to A Shui and Maomao, Xiao Lingdang and Zuo Zuo have also worked together. Although they haven't won many gold medals, they have basically won all the major competitions.
Finally, there is mixed doubles.
From the time I was fifteen until now, I haven't taken the ride except for two years in between and after the Riyadh World Games, but before that I took the ride almost every year.
This album includes clips of every previous game.
The two children in the photo have grown up from being childish and immature. After having their hair cut short because they joined the Bayi team, their hair began to grow slowly again.
To use Ah Shui's words to describe it, the years they once spent together were also recorded in the passage of time.
In some backgrounds, the two of them were surrounded by fans asking for autographs, in others, they were preparing to be interviewed, and in others, they were preparing to leave the venue side by side.
No matter from which angle you look at it.
The boy's eyes were always on the girl.
Warm and sincere.
Sometimes Zhu Qi forgets that this is an era where even a touch of the fingertips will make one blush.
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