Because it is the first game of the year, media from all over the world are gathering in Hong Kong at this moment.
Very rare, there is a Brazilian media among them.
Brazil has been a transparent person in the world table tennis world for many years. The players have no strength, cannot achieve world rankings, and are not qualified to participate in major events. The relevant media cannot make money, and there is no money to go abroad to report on world competitions. As a result, table tennis has been popular for decades, and Brazil has never been included in the names of countries that everyone can count casually.
It is only when watching football matches that everyone remembers that there is such a powerful sports country in the world, and a question arises in their minds: Where are the Brazilian table tennis players?
But that's all. Questions float like bubbles, bursting instantly, and no one cares.
Until the rise of Hook in recent years.
Hook is so impressive. Not only did he reach fifth place in the world rankings last year, he was also recognized by all the top players in the world in terms of hard power.
So at the beginning of the new year, when Hook played its first match, Brazilian officials were finally willing to send a team to the port area with the team at public expense to follow and report the entire process of Hong Kong Open.
To put it more bluntly, what this team has to do is slap Hook in the face for four days and four nights until the game is over.
They are waiting to witness Hook crown World Champion.
Brazilians have no idea about table tennis. They don't know that this is a game with ultra-low error tolerance and high chance. They use football as an analogy and wishfully believe that the strong will always be strong and there will be no accidents. They believe that Hook can defeat everyone in the world except Sun Tianlong and Luo Jiu, just like the Brazilian national football team can defeat all teams in Asia.
So they decided to do a special interview to cheer up domestic fans and promote table tennis across the country.
It was already the evening of February 14th, and the group draw ceremony, which was broadcast live to the world, was about to begin. People were coming and going in the hall, and professional players could be seen everywhere chatting and discussing in small circles, and the atmosphere was lively.
"Hello, I am Tavares, a reporter from Brazil's xx TV station. Can I ask you a question?"
Tavares is a professional event reporter who specializes in frontline interviews. At this moment, he stopped a contestant at random and asked a question he had been brewing for a long time, "Who do you think is the most terrifying person among all the contestants in this Hong Kong Open?"
His interview subject is Li Zhengzhi.
The answer he hoped for was "Hook. Calderano".
In fact, his original plan was to randomly interview a dozen people, and then these dozen people all admitted that Hook was the most terrifying player in this tournament. This would be very beneficial to increasing the popularity of domestic table tennis and improving the self-confidence of domestic fans.
He didn't think there would be any other answer, because he and all his Brazilian compatriots really believed that Hook would definitely win this time, and they also really forgot that Hook could easily fall short.
Because there are really not many people who know table tennis in Brazil, following the crowd has become the simplest and crudest judgment logic for fans.
Li Zhengzhi has the unique rigorous attitude of Kimchi Country people when it comes to asking questions. He was not scornful because it was just casual, but thought carefully for five seconds before saying, "I think it is Bay Island player Lin Zijun."
Tavares was extremely surprised and said, "Why?"
Li Zhengzhi said seriously, "Because I played against him last year, I think he has world-class delicate touch and ball control ability. At the same time, I have also witnessed several of his games with my own eyes. I think his mentality is also world-class. In fact, he is my idol."
Tavares was unwilling to give in, he said, "What do you think of the Hook player from our country? As a friendly reminder, he has now reached the fourth place in the world rankings."
"I think it's not terrible to judge a player. We can't completely look at the world ranking." Li Zhengzhi still answered very rigorously, "Otherwise, among the players participating this time, there are actually Xiao Fei player from World Ranking Second and Lin Li player ranked third in the world."
Tavares is a little confused.
In fact, he didn't know much about table tennis. He just made up for it before coming. As for the world rankings, he had seen them but couldn't remember them. So he stopped dwelling on the rankings and asked, "You haven't said what you think of player Hook yet."
"Player Hook, he is very scary when he performs normally..." Li Zhengzhi said.
Tavares looked happy.
But Li Zhengzhi continued, "But as we all know, Hook's performance is extremely unstable. He has made obvious mistakes sooner or later in almost all competitions, so I am not optimistic about him."
Tavares believes that Li Zhengzhi must be telling the truth. After all, Kimchi Country people are recognized around the world as being narrow-minded and tough-talking.
So he grabbed a young England player who came to the competition to gain knowledge. "Excuse me, who do you think is the scariest person in this competition?"
The young player didn't even think about it, "Of course it's the Pike player from our England team."
Tavares: "But player Pike's world ranking is far behind player Hook."
"You don't understand this." The young player looked at Tavares with contempt. "According to the official statistics of our England Table Tennis Association, The probability of Brazil's Hook player falling behind in the competition is 93.28%, while the probability of our Pike player falling behind in the competition is only 7.34%, so, although Hook's ranking is much higher than Pike, his chance of being eliminated midway is 78.26% higher than Pike."
Tavares is a little depressed.
He had seen the news before, saying that the England Table Tennis Association predicted that Pike had a 30% chance of winning the championship. At that time, he scoffed because he believed that Pike didn't play a hundred games in the whole year last year, and you could actually make the statistics accurate to two decimal places. You are obviously being a hooligan.
But unfortunately, because his table tennis association was unprofessional and did not produce statistics, he could not refute the contempt from the England players.
But the data flow of little player England has not ended yet, and he continues to talk. "According to detailed statistics, Hook players have a 25.73% chance of failing in the qualifying round, a 45.78% chance of failing in the group stage, a 35.25% chance of failing in the quarterfinals, and a 35.25% chance of failing in the semifinals. The chance of losing in the final is 21.38%, and the chance of losing in the final is 6.32%. To sum up, the final conclusion of our England Table Tennis Association is that he will be eliminated because of falling before entering the semi-finals."
Tavares was confused by the large number of numbers, but he forced himself to analyze, just like a certain England named Watson, trying to find the blind spots.
Eventually he succeeded.
"Look, look, your statistics are regular. His turnover rate was the highest in the group stage. His turnover rate was much lower in the quarter-finals. His turnover rate in the semi-finals was even lower. By the finals, his turnover rate had dropped to single digits. Doesn't this mean that his condition is becoming more and more stable?"
The young player looked at him like an idiot. After a long time, he realized that Tavares really didn't understand, so he sighed and said, "Do you know why the error rate in the finals is so low... Because he only reached the finals once last year, and he still didn't understand. It's Sun Tianlong. He will lose regardless of whether he makes a mistake. Also, the farther he goes to the back, the lower his mistake rate is. This is actually because the farther he goes to the back, the fewer times he can make the finals. How many times can he make mistakes if he makes so few mistakes?"
Tavares made a big mistake and turned red with embarrassment. It turned out that it was not Watson who discovered the blind spot, but the blind monk who discovered Hua Dian.
He ended the interview in a hurry and reflected on it. It must be that the England people wanted to win the championship too much, so their attitude towards Hook was not objective.
In this case, try to find someone neutral.
Tavares approached Germany veteran Hans. Bayer because he heard that this man had a very good character.
Uncle Bai always maintained an excellent gentlemanly demeanor, took the initiative to shake hands with Tavares, and praised the rapid development of Brazilian table tennis in recent years.
Tavares was extremely encouraged because he could tell from Uncle Bai's words that Uncle Bai knew Hook very well, so he asked the same question again.
Bayer thought for a while and replied, "I think Huaping is a traditional powerhouse in the world. If I have to choose the most terrifying person, I will choose from the contestants of Huaping."
Bayer did not mention the names of Pike and Hook, because in fact Hook left in the Ping Pong Desert a year and a half ago South America went to play in a professional club in Germany, and Pike is a European himself. Therefore, he played against these two many times throughout the year, and they were basically in a crushing situation in terms of record.
As King of Europe, he did not attach as much importance to these two people as Huaping did.
Tavares was disappointed, but Bayer's words were correct. Even a layman knew how strong Huaping was, so he forced himself to smile and asked, "So, do you choose Lin Li or Xiao Fei?"
"No, it's not them." Bayer shook his head and his expression became serious. "Maybe you think I am alarmist, but I think the winner of this Open may be unexpected by many people... In fact, I am very optimistic about Wang Chao, followed by Lin Zijun."
Tavares looked confused.
He has never heard of the name Wang Chao, because his only knowledge of the players in this Open comes from the world ranking table, and Wang Chao's name does not appear in the top thirty.
He had an impression of the name Lin Zijun, but it was really only a superficial impression that he had seen the name before, and knew nothing else.
Bayer didn't know that the reporter on the opposite side was experiencing a career crisis because he didn't do his homework well before the game. He thought Tavares's expression was accidental, so he explained sincerely, "You know, an old player like me has played against almost every player in the world. Therefore, I don't just look at people based on their results, I value playing against them more. For example, Xiao Fei and Lin Li, although they are ranked high in the world, in my opinion, it is just because they have the stable characteristics that Chinese table tennis players always have, so they can get enough points in all competitions. When I perform well, I think I can beat them."
Tavares adjusted his condition as quickly as possible, pretended that he knew Wang Chao, and said, "Then what is so scary about player Wang Chao?"
Bayer said, "I haven't played against him, but last year I carefully analyzed the game between him and Bay Island player Lin Zijun on T2. I think that a lot of content in that game would shock even an old guy like me, because I I ask myself, if I were on the court, I might not be able to play like them... In fact, I think both Wang Chao and Lin Zijun are very scary, but because Wang Chao won the T2 game, I temporarily think he is the most scary person in this tournament."
Tavares politely said goodbye to Bayer, feeling furious in his heart. He must find an interview subject who is willing to admit that Hook is terrible.
He no longer pulled people in casually, but searched everywhere, and finally found an excellent target: England player Pike.
"Even if you Pike want to win the championship again, you won't say that you are terrible, right? After all, England people still want to lose face sometimes." Tavares thought very well, "European table tennis and Asian table tennis have always been at odds with each other, and they are even more hostile to Chinese table tennis. On the premise that you can't choose yourself, you should be willing to choose Hook, right?"
He walked up to Pike and asked his question.
But Pike finally gave the same answer as Bayer: "It's actually difficult to choose, especially since there are so many experts in Huaping this time, but if you have to choose one, I choose Wang Chao."
Tavares was a little shocked.
If Bayer was the only one who said this, he would think it was a coincidence, but Pike actually chose the same person, so it was definitely not a coincidence.
It can only prove that this player named Wang Chao is really strong.
He memorized Wang Chao's name carefully and asked, "Why? His world ranking is obviously very low, and you have never played against him, right?"
Pike smiled and said, "What does the world ranking mean? If International Table Tennis Federation relaxes restrictions and allows Huaping to register for the competition without restrictions, do you believe that Huaping can at least squeeze into sixty or seventy of the top 100 in the world rankings? I chose Wang Chao for two reasons."
He held out a finger. "First, he won the T2 championship last year. According to the latest statistics from the my country Table Tennis Association, all Chinese table tennis players over the years who have won the championship at their debut have an 83.96% chance of eventually growing into a world-class player, and a 49.72% chance of winning Grand Slam."
Tavares cursed in his mind at this moment, "Oh, this damn probability is accurate to two decimal places!"
Pike stretched out a second finger. "Second, he is the only player in the world who owns Unrivaled talent."
Tavares is confused again.
He really doesn't know what Unrivaled talent is.
So he could only bite the bullet and pretend that he had heard it, and continued to ask, "What does this mean?"
"It shows that he is favored by the entire Huaping coaching staff." Pike said, "You know, there has never been such a talent in the world, but the head coach of Huaping personally gave his talent a name. This kind of thing has never happened in the decades of Huaping history... For this reason, even if he didn't win the T2 championship last year, I would still find him very scary."
Tavares finally understands.
It turns out that Pike is actually a person who admires China and favors foreigners.
"Cai Guodong said Wang Chao is very strong, then I believe that Wang Chao is very strong." Yes, that's what Pike means.
After completing the interview, Tavares knew that his plan had been completely ruined, but he still wanted to complete the interview. This time, he chose to interview Asian players.
Lin Zijun: "The most terrifying player in my mind is of course Wang Chao. I lost to him last year, and I'm here to take revenge this time."
Xiao Fei: "How do you say, do you want me to choose Pike or Hook? I'm sorry, I think they are not stable enough. Facing our Huaping, they may be able to pass one or two levels, but it may be difficult to get to the end, so I'll choose one in the team... Well, I choose Wang Chao. You ask me why not Lin Li? Because he is ranked lower than me."
Lin Li: "I will definitely choose Wang Chao, because he plays the smartest. My teacher Qin Huachang once told me that if you want to reach the top, you must play smart enough. As for Fei Ge... he is just experienced, not smart."
In fact, neither Xiao Fei nor Lin Li told the truth, because the truth is that they saw the three games Wang Chao played in the provincial team selection competition.
Lu Feiyang: "Hua Ping is the most powerful, Hua Ping is the most terrifying, Hua Ping is the best in the world! Don't force me to choose one, I can't choose, because I really can't beat any of them."
Zhang Benkuang: "The most terrifying person? Of course it's me. I'm determined to be the first Grand Slam man in Sakura Country!" (The soul of the second grade begins to burn)
Mizutori Hato: "Scary? Hahaha!"
(Mizutori Hato made a ferocious expression on you and spat.)
"Look, don't I look terrible now? Hahahaha, I am certainly the scariest man in this Open. Do I need to say that?"
Tavares went back disappointed.
He asked around, but no one answered Hook.
It turns out that the gap between ideal and reality is so big.
It turns out that there is such a big difference between the advocacy of domestic table tennis and the perception of world table tennis.
He didn't give up and finally found Hook himself. "Who do you think is the scariest man in this Open?"
Hook smiled, "Of course it's Sun Tianlong. I was eliminated by him in the Open final last year."
Tavares sighed, "Sun Tianlong did not participate."
"Oh, then Lin Zijun." Hook shrugged indifferently. "I was eliminated by him in the finals last year."
Tavares opened his mouth, but no words came out this time.
What he actually wanted to say was, "That's because you made a mistake in your own performance."
But he realized that Hook didn't care what others thought of him.
Hook himself doesn't think he is very strong, so where does the confidence of domestic fans come from?
Why should I care so much?
Thanks for the 5000+1500 coin reward from "Can I Live Immortally"? By the way, congratulations on becoming my fifth helmsman.
At the same time, I would like to thank "Book Friends 20170103205641475" for the 100-coin reward. Unfortunately, I don't know if you are a new reader, because this name is really unrecognizable, haha.