Regarding German Open in July, the situation is actually more complicated.
At the cake-sharing meeting at the beginning of the year, Wang Chao played as a coach and battled wits with Qin Huachang, the number one coach in Chinese table tennis at the time. One fought for Luo Jiu to compete, and the other fought for Sun Tianlong fought for a place in the competition and finally succeeded in dividing up the seven Platinum leg places this year. Specifically, Luo Jiu got three places and Sun Tianlong got four.
These so-called seven quotas are actually equivalent to seven gold medals. Since Huaping sent its twin stars to compete, they were determined to win the championship.
Now in July, this year's open competition has been held for five games. Among them, China, Sweden and Qatar won three gold medals Platinum leg, and they were indeed won by Huaping as they wished. However, because Sun Tianlong suffered an accidental injury, so he took the initiative to give up his Swedish Open quota to Wang Chao, and Wang Chao was also very motivated and won the final championship.
So for German Open Platinum leg, which will start in mid-July, it stands to reason that Sun Tianlong should also return as the king.
He rested for two months, and the injury was officially recovered. In the past half month, he has been undergoing recovery training at the base. His performance during training was very exaggerated. It is said that almost every sparring partner was beaten to autism. Later, Zhu Ding, who practiced Happy Ping Pong divine skill, wanted to see more. After a day of fighting, he withdrew with a pale face and refused to go back no matter what.
Therefore, with the current state of Sun Tianlong, it is no exaggeration to say that as long as he fights, he can definitely win the championship. Even if Hook returns to his prime and enters crazy mode, there is a high probability that he will not be able to stop him.
Therefore, Wang Chao has been very quiet since returning from the championship in mid-June. Apart from training in mixed doubles, he has not made any extra efforts, and he has never thought about seeking a singles opportunity from Old Cai.
After all, he knows the operating rules of the Huaping organization very well.
Although he won the championship in Malaysia Open in a crushing manner and beat foreign players to the point of despair, according to Huaping's tradition over the years, this is still not enough to prove that his mixed doubles is trustworthy.
He needs to continue to play in the Open and continue to win the championship in a crushing way to prove that he is reliable.
Once is not enough, at least two times, preferably three times, only if you don't lose your chain three times can you prove that you have truly established your footing - this is Huaping's consistent policy for every event. In order to ensure a 100% winning rate without any surprises, Huaping is conservative to the point of exaggeration when selecting players for major events.
Therefore, Wang Chao's original idea was to continue participating in the German Open mixed doubles event in July and the Brazil Open mixed doubles event in August. He would continue to win at these two events, and then try to propose to Old Cai and register for mixed doubles and Men's Singles at Portugal Open in September.
So Sun Tianlong came to him, which was definitely a super unexpected thing for him.
"Of course you can't make it if you sign up by yourself." Faced with Wang Chao's inquiry, Sun Tianlong smiled, "But I will vouch for you, and you can go."
Wang Chao didn't say anything for a long while. He looked at Sun Tianlong's expression carefully and made sure that Sun Tianlong was not joking. Then he said, "Brother Long, I don't understand... why?"
He really doesn't understand.
Because logically speaking, it would not be his turn anyway.
First of all, Sun Tianlong himself is in good condition. In the last year of his career, he was delayed for several months because of the loss of energy in the battle with himself. Now that it is rare to regain health, there is no reason not to win the gold medal.
To say the least, even if he really doesn't want to go, he should give up his spot to Fan Xiaodong. After all, Fan Xiaodong's potential is so great that even a blind man can see it. He is also his orthodox younger brother in the Qin clan, and he is the direct descendant of Qin Huachang's Tuogu before he left. Even with Fan Xiaodong's own ability, it is actually possible for Fan Xiaodong to directly win the championship in the German Grand Prix.
Don't forget, Fan Xiaodong has never lost a foreign game since his debut. He participated in two open competitions and lost two games, one to Wang Chao and one to Xiao Fei. It can be said that even though he lost, it was an honor.
"You have the nerve to ask me why?" Sun Tianlong didn't have so many complicated thoughts. He smiled heartily and punched Wang Chao on the shoulder without telling anyone else, "Don't you want to participate Olympic Games singles match? You don't have enough time. Don't you even know it? Aren't you in a hurry?"
Wang Chao could only smile bitterly, "Of course I know, but what can I do?"
There is indeed not enough time, because this year's Olympic Games is held in November, and there are less than five months left. According to Wang Chao's original plan, it will take him another two months to completely prove his mixed doubles. In these two months, Table Tennis World Cup, one of the three major events, has actually passed.
At the beginning of the year, Cai Guodong promised Zhu Zeshi to give Wang Chao the opportunity to participate in this year's World Cup domestic qualifiers. However, when this promise conflicted with the more important mixed doubles, it was obvious that Old Cai would choose to break his promise. Wang Chao knew this very well and did not even think about fighting for it.
He only hopes that he can win two gold medals in mixed doubles and Men's Singles at the Portugal Open in September, and return to the ranks of Olympic Games Men's Singles contenders.
But in fact, there are many fundamental difficulties here.
This year there are particularly many open events, seven Platinum leg, eight ordinary stations, a total of 15 tournaments to be completed within 11 months, which means that on average there is more than one open tournament every month.
In fact, most of the events are concentrated in the second half of the year.
In such a high-density open schedule in the second half of the year, there are also three major competitions interspersed, World Cup at the beginning of August, World Table Tennis Championships at the end of September, and Olympic Games at the end of November. In this way, Wang Chao If it really takes until September to regain the right to compete for the Olympic quota for Men's Singles, then in order to prove himself in the next time, he must participate in all the next open competitions to accumulate enough results to convince Cai Guodong.
This is a completely devilish schedule. Even if Wang Chao is at the youngest and most energetic age in his life, he may not be able to persist.
What's more, his goal must be to win the championship.
From the end of September to the end of November, there were two Platinum legs. One station was guarded by Luo Jiu, and the other station was guarded by Sun Tianlong. This means that if Wang Chao wants to clear the level, he must break through these invincible twin stars.
At the same time, he also has to overcome the physical fatigue and mental fatigue caused by high-intensity competition, the possible injuries caused by high-intensity competition, and the disordered work and rest and physiological disorders caused by frequent overseas competitions and frequent jet lag.
This is simply an impossible task.
But Wang Chao didn't complain in his heart, nor did he feel it was unfair. After all, at the age of 18, he wanted to get the Olympic Games spot with only one year of career, which was something that no one had ever done before.
In the decades-long history of Chinese table tennis dominance, the average age of male athletes participating in Olympic Games is over 26 years old. In history, the youngest players participating in Men's Singles in the Olympics were all 24 years old and had already had a seven-year career at that time.
If you want to challenge for unprecedented glory, of course you have to make unprecedented efforts. This is reasonable.
"You really have no choice, so am I here to help you?" Sun Tianlong patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go find Old Cai together."
For this reason, Wang Chao was sure that Sun Tianlong was serious.
But he still couldn't understand.
"Brother Long Are you going to give me the singles spot?" Wang Chao couldn't help but feel strong curiosity. "Don't you want to play yourself?"
"It doesn't matter whether I play or not. I have dozens of open championships in my hands, and this one is as good as mine." Sun Tianlong replied nonchalantly.
"But..." Wang Chao didn't know how to continue asking. He was essentially a very sinister person, but facing Sun Tianlong's magnanimous personality, he felt that even just asking him some words would be an insult to Sun Tianlong.
But he still asked, because he was really panicking. "Why did you give up your spot to me? And you took the initiative to help me find Old Cai... You might as well give it up to Fan Xiaodong."
"Oh, Xiao Dong, he doesn't need me to let him go, he can compete already." Sun Tianlong looked at him strangely. "So, what are you struggling with? My spot is vacant."
Wang Chao was stunned. He originally wanted to ask, but suddenly he understood, and his face felt a little hot for a while.
He finally realized that the man standing in front of him at this time probably had no concept of the Qinmen Zhu Clan in his mind. Sun Tianlong's thinking mode simply put the interests of Huaping as a whole first.
Therefore, Sun Tianlong is not pretending to be confused, he really doesn't understand what Wang Chao is struggling with.
From Sun Tianlong's point of view, it doesn't matter whether he goes or not, but since the spot at this stop belongs to him, of course he can give it to whomever he wants.
He knew that Wang Chao wanted to play in the Olympics Men's Singles, and he also knew that Wang Chao was tied up in mixed doubles. He also knew that the reason why Wang Chao was tied up had something to do with his mentor Qin Huachang.
In this case, just go and unbind Wang Chao yourself. It's quite simple.
As for Fan Xiaodong...
Of course he knew that Wang Chao's death would be a great obstacle to Fan Xiaodong. In fact, he was very sure that the current Fan Xiaodong was not Wang Chao's opponent.
But what does it matter?
Sun Tianlong doesn't care whether Fan Xiaodong can set a record of winning the championship at the age of 15. He thinks these records are child's play, and it doesn't matter. What he cares about is that Fan Xiaodong's genius is no less than that of Wang Chao. Therefore, as a junior disciple of the Qin family, I am afraid that he also needs a little setback to grow to a higher height.
So, without violating fair competition, if Wang Chao "happens" to suppress Fan Xiaodong a little, it would be a good thing, allowing Fan Xiaodong to train more diligently and modestly.
Yes, in the short term, this will benefit the Zhu family and harm the Qin family.
But overall, this has benefited Huaping.
That's enough.
"But Brother Long you have been training so hard recently and are in such good condition. If you don't go to win the championship yourself, I always feel... I always feel..." Wang Chao doesn't know what to say.
"My training is normal. What else can I do if I don't train? After two months of rest, my bones are almost rusty." Sun Tianlong smiled casually, "Even if there are no competitions in the future, as long as I want to play for fun, I will continue to train. Even after I become a coach, it will be the same. In the future, I still want to be Xiao Dong's sparring partner."
He paused, glanced at Wang Chao, and said curiously, "Don't you know that senior brother Wang Wendong was actually very good at playing before he retired?"
Wang Chao was stunned.
"Senior Sister Li Xiaoxia of female table tennis was also very good at playing when she retired. She was basically invincible." Sun Tianlong added, "In fact, every generation of Grand Slam from Huaping could still play when they retired. However, their reputation has already reached and the younger generations have grown up. If they continue to play, it will not be beneficial to Huaping, but it will really suppress the young people and prevent them from getting ahead."
He smiled and said, "It is said that Huaping is about grabbing the class and seizing power, and not about abdicating one's position in favor of talents. But sometimes, you have to give in. Otherwise, what if there is a break?"
Wang Chao turned his head to look at him as he walked. As he watched, he felt his heart moved slightly, as if he had suddenly glimpsed some truths that no one in the outside world had ever glimpsed.
Sun Tianlong is full of fame. He has dominated men's table tennis for a long time and is said to be unprecedented and the first in history. While he has gained unprecedented fame, he has also received some criticism. Some people think that he occupies his position and robs young players of a large number of opportunities to participate, which has led to the current state of Chinese table tennis.
In fact, before Wang Chao crossed over, Huaping did have some inadequacies. If you want to say that this has nothing to do with the veteran players never quitting, that is obviously nonsense.
But is Sun Tianlong really holding on to his position for personal honor?
Actually not.
Like his senior brothers and sisters, he should be satisfied after getting a Grand Slam and have the intention to retire. However, historical development always has peaks and valleys, and Huaping has been at a low point in recent years, so there have never been stable and strong enough newcomers to grow up. Therefore, Sun Tianlong has never been able to retreat. He has always stayed in the team to provide support for his juniors.
Wang Chao believes that seven years ago, Cai Guodong should have hoped that Luo Jiu, the most talented person, could take over the responsibility, but Luo Jiu let him down.
Later, Cai Guodong should have pinned his hopes on Bai Feng, who invented Penhold Backhand Loop, but Bai Feng also disappointed him.
In addition, players like Qi Hao Xue Hui are also very talented but something went wrong in the middle and they never reached the heights Cai Guodong wanted.
So Sun Tianlong could never retreat, and had to give his junior brothers the truth. As a result, after going around and around, more than ten World Champion were brought out, and without knowing it, they were approaching Double Grand Slam.
I believe that Sun Tianlong had never thought about Double Grand Slam at first, but when this matter suddenly became within reach, he was not a saint, so of course he was moved.
Therefore, Sun Tianlong must have thought about competing for Double Grand Slam in the past two years. In other words, this is his only goal.
So why did Qin Huachang fight for so many competition places for Platinum leg for Sun Tianlong in the cake sharing meeting?
Wang Chao Before today, I always thought this was what Sun Tianlong wanted.
But now he suddenly realized something was wrong.
This may not be the original intention of Sun Tianlong, but just the meaning of Qin Huachang.
Qin Huachang's structure is not big, and he cares about gains and losses at one time and place. He does not want his disciples to suffer. In his opinion, as long as Sun Tianlong is in power, he should fight hard for a day. Every additional champion will be an additional record. He hopes that his beloved disciple can set this record high, so that no one can come before him and no pursuer can follow him.
That's why he will do his best to fight for opportunities for Sun Tianlong.
He thought it was for Sun Tianlong's good.
But he doesn't know that Sun Tianlong doesn't care about this.
Because Sun Tianlong actually has a big structure, an open personality, and doesn't have so many narrow obsessions.
Sun Tianlong just respects his mentor and cannot bear to violate his expectations, so he always strives to be a disciple that makes Qin Huachang proud.
Sun Tianlong is unparalleled in toughness in foreign wars, but in civil wars he is actually willing to lose. He just needs his teammates to be strong enough to make him lose happily.
That's why he deliberately lost to Lin Li last July.
Since then, he has met Luo Jiu in the finals twice, but both times he chose to take a step back at the last moment, which enabled the rise of Luo Jiu.
Now Qin Huachang has finally left Huaping.
Although Sun Tianlong is still a player in name, in fact, he has become the helmsman of the Qin clan, and no Coach He dares to underestimate this youngest helmsman.
So Sun Tianlong took the initiative to open up the situation.
After the battle with Wang Chao Table Tennis Super League, he took the initiative to recommend Wang Chao to fight Swedish Open. In fact, the pattern had already begun to form at that time.
He values Wang Chao very much, so he supports Wang Chao and does not care whether Wang Chao is a disciple of Qin Clan.
This time he supports Wang Chao again, also because he believes that Wang Chao is currently the most worthy player in his mind.
In fact, his attitude has been very clear. He hopes that Wang Chao will become the next Grand Slam of Huaping and maintain the reputation of Huaping.
For this reason, he is willing to protect him.
It's that simple.
"Brother Long..." Wang Chao was suddenly moved at this moment.
Sun Tianlong turned around and glanced at him. "What are you doing?"
"I want to say..." Wang Chao said, "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you on Olympic Games?"
Sun Tianlong laughed, "I'm afraid."
"Then you will help me?" Wang Chao also laughed.
"It's because I'm afraid that I want to help you." Sun Tianlong said with a rare extra seriousness, "I want to win the championship because I want to prove that I am really better than everyone else, rather than trying to find a way to block those who threaten me from the Olympics. What's the point of winning such a championship?"
Wang Chao didn't speak anymore, but suddenly remembered the oath he made after the Table Tennis Super League battle with Sun Tianlong in March.
"I once swore that I would never meet you in the arena in the future." Wang Chao was a little confused for a moment and couldn't help asking himself, "But you have said it to this point. If Olympic Games we really meet, should I fight or not?"