In fact, the second team of Chinese Table Tennis First Team has a total of more than forty players, forming a total of fifteen combinations, which is more than the coaching staff expected. Some players who have not appeared for a long time also took advantage of this opportunity to surface.
For example, the former bully king Hu Buming once signed up for Men's Singles, but unfortunately died in the qualifiers and failed to enter Top 12 Main Tournament. Now that Men's Doubles is free to sign up, he naturally came up again.
His partner was Qi Hao who Luo Jiu did not find in the end. The two formed "Firecracker Symphony Combination".
Qi Hao is not picky either, because he has no ambitions in doubles. As long as he has a ball to play with, it doesn't matter who he plays with. What's more, Hu Buming is not only the first one to come to him, but also brought a gift when he came to the door: a deluxe version of Pork Knuckle Rice.
No one can refuse Pork Knuckle Rice. If he can, then add an extra portion of pig's feet to become a luxurious Pork Knuckle Rice.
Another example is Fang Xiaobo, who originally had no intention of participating in any competition, but was pulled back by Zou Zhengyu and formed a group called "Noah's Ark Combination".
It can only be said that one name is louder than the other, but if you look carefully, you will find that the group with the louder the name is actually less powerful.
Then Men's Doubles officially started playing, with a knockout mode throughout, all the way to the end.
This competition system has a lot of luck-based elements, and is far less serious than the two-round cycle of Men's Singles. However, this is actually the original intention of the coaching staff. After all, the through competition is a commercial event and always needs some dramatic things to create gimmicks. Men's Singles itself has no room for error, and naturally it cannot be joked about with the competition system. As for Men's Doubles, Sun Tianlong and Xiao Fei have been assigned to take care of the situation anyway. Let's just do whatever we want with this remaining team.
In one morning, Men's Doubles played two rounds, and the top four were announced. What was surprising was that Heavenly Net Combination, who was originally just for fun, was still there.
This is certainly because Luo Jiu is very strong, but the 12-year-old Wang Qin played really well and performed so well that many coaches were impressed.
The top four battled again in the afternoon, and Heavenly Net Combination was finally defeated. The one who defeated them was "Sailing Combination", a pair of peers, Lu Feiyang and Fan Xiaodong.
The other pair that entered the finals was "Red Star Combination" composed of Ma Angxing and Zhu Ding. From the actual combat effect, Ma Angxing was really good as an assistant. On the contrary, there were some problems with Zhu Ding's strange offensive methods. Many of them killed themselves, and their scoring efficiency was slightly insufficient.
In fact, it can be seen from here that the Chinese Table Tennis Men's Team has indeed gradually entered the stage of changing dynasties.
The two groups and four players who entered the finals, except for the 27-year-old Zhu Ding, the remaining three, one is 18 years old and two are 15 years old, are already young and tender newcomers.
Yes, the combination of Sun Tianlong and Xiao Fei is still the best in the world, but when this year is over and the two officially retire next year, the legend of Flying Heavenly Combination will no longer be in the table tennis world. It is still difficult to say who will take the lead in the men's doubles of Huaping in the future.
Cai Guodong's favorites are naturally Luo Jiu and Wang Chao. As Luo Jiu himself said, two players who also practice the "double-sided loop ball and Taiwan's no-dead-end offensive system" fight side by side. This Taiwan-wide two-person attack and defense style has never appeared in the world table tennis. The sense of anticipation is simply exploding, okay?
However, Wang Chao's singles and mixed doubles are equally indispensable. So, does he have to do all three?
It may be possible in the future, but it is definitely not possible now. Wang Chao must continue to exercise.
Because of this, Cai Guodong couldn't help but pay more attention to the pairing of Lu Feiyang and Fan Xiaodong.
In the end, these two young players lived up to expectations and defeated Zhu Ding and Ma Angxing 4:2 in the final, qualifying for the final World Table Tennis Championships men's doubles.
This is probably the youngest World Table Tennis Championships Men's Doubles combination in the history of Huaping. As long as they continue to match up, they may become the next Flying Heavenly Combination in the future.
The ensuing women's doubles match is not mentioned.
After Women's Doubles finished playing, the highlight of the doubles event came next: mixed doubles.
Compared with Men's Doubles, mixed doubles seems much more formal, because when the news came out that mixed doubles was admitted to the Olympics, Huaping itself had formed more than one team.
The strongest mixed doubles team at the moment is naturally Wang Chao and Tang Yuanyuan and Tang Dynasty Combination. This pair was directly selected by the coaching staff and does not need to participate in the competition.
The other two groups that are on standby to escort Tang Dynasty Combination, Flying Sand Combination from Lu Feiyang and Shen Sha, and Underworld Combination from Gao Mingyuan and Wang Yu, have no doubt signed up to compete.
Liu Wen privately took the initiative to find Xiao Fei and wanted to participate in the mixed doubles selection as Scarlet Gossip Combination. She is not as Buddhist as Xiao Fei. Although Olympic Games's mixed doubles quota is gone, she still wants to compete for World Table Tennis Championships's mixed doubles gold medal.
However, Xiao Fei did not agree. Instead, he enthusiastically promoted a new partner to her.
"The disciple I just accepted, Wang Qin, performed quite well. Men's Doubles entered the semi-finals. He partnered with Luo Jiu and destroyed both Zou Zhengyu and Fang Xiaobo. This should be convincing enough, right?"
"Believe me, if you try to partner with him, there will be no problem at least making it to the semi-finals."
"Take care of your little brother."
Liu Wen couldn't laugh or cry, and wanted to curse, but she had a good temper, and after Xiao Fei's constant stalking, she actually nodded in agreement.
So in the mixed doubles arena, the coaches saw the 12-year-old Wang Qin child again.
Facts have proved that the disciple Wang Chao chose for Xiao Fei is really good. After the mixed doubles started, Liu Wen and Wang Qin passed two consecutive rounds and reached the top five.
If you want to ask why it is not the top four, this is because there are 17 mixed doubles registration groups in total. According to the principle of fighting each other, one group has a bye in the first round, forming 17 into 9, and another group in the second round has a bye, forming 9 into 5.
In the third round of the draw, Liu Wen and Wang Qin had a bye, so the pair with the biggest age difference actually successfully entered the top three.
But that's about it.
As expected by everyone, the other two in the top three are Flying Sand Combination and Underworld Combination who once protected Tang Dynasty Combination.
There is still a huge gap between those who have practiced and those who formed a temporary team.
The top three adopt a round-robin format. Whichever combination wins two games first will qualify for World Table Tennis Championships.
In the end, Lu Feiyang and Shen Sha were superior. They won the head-to-head battle with Gao Mingyuan Wang Yu 4:3 and got the last direct ticket to Budapest, Hungary.
At this point, all the matches in the surface 12-player direct competition have ended. The Chinese Table Tennis Team returned to the Imperial Capital from Pengcheng, Guangdong Province, and began the final team training before World Table Tennis Championships.
On the morning of September 13, Luo Jiu knocked on Cai Guodong's office door. "Head coach, I apply to participate in Portugal Open two days later."
Cai Guodong was stunned. "Why?"
The time of Portugal Open is exactly sandwiched between the surface 12-player through competition and World Table Tennis Championships. It is also an ordinary station. It is tasteless among the chicken ribs. It is even more boring than Brazil Open in August. Huaping has reached a consensus a month ago that it will not send any players to participate in this open competition.
In fact, because the three major competitions are imminent, not many people around the world will participate in this open competition. Players with a little reputation will focus on the three major competitions. Only those middle and low-level players who are not qualified to play in major competitions will go to Portugal Open to gain knowledge and try to get a ranking.
But now Luo Jiu said he was going.
Many complex issues arise.
The system of Huaping is different from that of any non-Chinese associations. Because it implements a national system, all international competitions for athletes are arranged by specialized staff. They arrange food and accommodation, schedules, receptions, training, and all competition-related matters to create the best conditions for athletes so that they can concentrate on training without distractions.
But precisely because everything is publicly funded and there is a mature, large, and complete logistics support system, this system will never serve just one person, let alone one athlete's application.
"I just need your help to book air tickets and hotels, because I really have no way to book a flight tonight..." Luo Jiu said with a smile, "Well... I understand the rules. I will not occupy public resources. I will participate at my own expense."
Cai Guodong opened his mouth. He originally had many questions to ask, but as if he thought of something, he stopped talking. He only looked at him deeply, nodded and said, "Okay."
On the evening of September 13th, Luo Jiu quietly left Chinese Table Tennis base in full swing, carrying a small backpack, and embarked on the long journey to Portugal alone.
On the afternoon of September 14th, the Portugal Open lottery drawing ceremony was held. When the list of participants was officially announced, it aroused various intense emotions among many people in non-Chinese associations.
"Isn't Huaping a bit too bullying?"
"No, it should be said that Luo Jiu deceived people too much."
"Do you really think you are invincible? You actually participated in Portugal Open alone."
"He just won the Men's Singles championship in the direct competition held within Huaping a few days ago. He will participate in World Table Tennis Championships at the end of next year, but he still has to take time out of his busy schedule to come here. Does he really think that this gold medal is just a treasure trove?"
"Isn't he afraid that preparing for this Open will affect his preparation for World Table Tennis Championships?"
"Who can tell me what he is thinking?"
Perhaps in order to answer the questions that had been asked countless times on foreign forums, the next day, that is, the morning of the main competition on September 15, Luo Jiu accepted an interview with foreign media. In the interview, he said openly and unabashedly, "Yes, I am here to win the championship."
He smiled and said, "Whether you believe it or not, support me or oppose me, angry or happy, in short, I have decided on this gold medal."
Luo Jiu's character is very out-of-the-box, and his image in the eyes of fans all over the world is mostly that of a comedian. Last year's line "If God didn't give birth to me, Luo Xiaojiu, raw rubber will last forever" has been circulated as a humorous joke on the Internet for a long time. But this time, although he was still smiling, there was no smile in his eyes. He looked very serious, serious, and even murderous, as if he was going to kill in the open competition.
So Qin Huachang, who was live broadcasting on time that morning, was asked this question by countless people in the live broadcast room.
"What exactly does Luo Jiu want to do?"
"Chinese Table Tennis Association has never had anything like this happen in decades. He sent a person alone to participate in the Open. I would like to ask, is this a new attempt by head coach Cai Guodong?"
"Or, does Portugal Open have any secrets that we don't know about this time?"
"Or, Luo Jiu is just one point away from Portugal Open championship, and can move up a place on the world rankings?"
Qin Huachang couldn't help but laugh after understanding the ins and outs, shook his head and said, "You guys are thinking too complicated."
He said, "You are right, something like this has never happened to China Table Tennis Team before. Therefore, it is obvious that Luo Jiu must have applied separately to the head coach Cai Guodong to participate in Portugal Open, and it was definitely a spur-of-the-moment move. In other words, when Brazil Open competed in August, he had not thought about this matter at all."
"So what happened after Brazil Open to make him change his mind?"
"Obviously, there is only one thing, and that is that he defeated Wang Chao twice on Top 12 Invitational. And in the next World Table Tennis Championships, he also hopes to defeat Wang Chao."
"But he didn't have a lot of confidence."
"Because he knows that although Wang Chao lost in the direct competition, he may not lose again on the stage of World Table Tennis Championships."
"Luo Jiu knows very well that when facing a player like Wang Chao, no matter how cautious you are, you can never be too cautious."
"He has heard a piece of news that you probably don't know, so let me tell you now: Hongshuangli is working hard to make his own customized racket for Wang Chao. If I guess correctly, this racket will be completed before World Table Tennis Championships."
"In other words, Wang Chao chose to customize the racket at this time just for World Table Tennis Championships."
"So Wang Chao on World Table Tennis Championships must be much stronger than Wang Chao on the direct race."
"So, Luo Jiu needs to give himself more confidence."
"After much thought, the only way he could continue to give himself confidence was to win a gold medal before World Table Tennis Championships."
"He's building momentum."
"The first victory over Wang Chao in the direct competition was his starting point, the second victory over Wang Chao was his build-up, and now going to Portugal to win the gold medal is to push his momentum to the top, to reach the peak of his strongest self-confidence, and then..."
Qin Huachang made a diagonal slash with one palm at the screen, which actually made many viewers of the live broadcast feel numb. "With this invincible momentum, I defeated Wang Chao three times in one go and won the championship of World Table Tennis Championships."
The barrage began to refresh crazily at this moment. This kind of secret battle between masters calculating each other before the war and trying to increase the winning rate. When they couldn't understand it, they just felt inexplicable. But after they understood it, it turned out to be like Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng Decisive Battle at the Summit of Zijin, giving them a feeling of extreme anticipation.
"What if Luo Jiu doesn't win the championship?" Qin Huachang read a barrage, and then laughed, "If you don't win, of course your momentum will be interrupted, your confidence will be lost, and World Table Tennis Championships will be defeated early."
"So he is fighting with his last resort and risking his life to survive. Otherwise, why would he want to be interviewed and why would he say such shameless words? He just wants to push himself to the point where there is no way out. Only in this way can he burst out with the most powerful combat effectiveness."
"So, he's going to be playing like crazy."
The following events proved Qin Huachang's inference.
Luo Jiu played very crazy, every game was a clean sheet, every game was a big score, his whole body seemed to be on fire, his condition was astonishingly hot, after every game, fans all over the world exclaimed.
It is worth mentioning that this time Hook participated in the open competition.
In fact, Hook was encouraged, because Brazil Open he did not participate, and this time Portugal Open, officials from the Brazilian Table Tennis Association made countless calls to him. "Just go and participate, please, isn't an Open gold medal worth your trip? You go, Don't worry, there won't be any masters participating in this Open. If you just go, you can win. This kind of good thing is like falling from the sky. If you don't hurry up, it will be gone. There will be no World Table Tennis Championships or Olympic Games next year. There won't be this kind of competition where you can win just by participating."
Hook was finally persuaded, but after he went there, he realized that although most of the masters in the world didn't come, he was the only one who came and couldn't beat him...
Luo Jiu and Hook finally met in the final, and then Luo Jiu directly gave Hook a 4:0.
After the game, even Hook himself felt a little shocked. He said in the interview, "Table Tennis Super League and Luo Jiu are teammates in China. We have played together many times. Recently, I have been unable to beat him, but I still didn't expect that he could beat me 4:0. I can only say that his state is really scary. If he can maintain this state to World Table Tennis Championships, I am afraid no one can be his opponent."
On September 20th, Luo Jiu returned with Portugal Open Men's Singles gold medal glory and Chinese Table Tennis base. He had no time to celebrate and plunged into the heated closed training at the base.
It was also on this day that Wang Chao got his customized racket.
"Give him a name." The person on the other end of Hongshuangli said to Wang Chao, "If you are willing, we can make the same product of this racket and put it on the market, and we will also pay you a considerable naming fee."
Of course Wang Chao would not object.
Because this is the custom of Chinese National Table Tennis Team players customizing their rackets over the years.
Racquet styles named after players' names have been selling well for many years. For example, Super Luo, which Wang Chao has been playing for a long time, is actually named after Luo Jiu.
Under Hongshuangli, there are actually two major categories of products, one is the Super Series and the other is the Cyclonus Series, both of which have been co-branded with many athletes.
For example, Sun Tianlong's Cyclonus Dragon, Jin Ling's Cyclonus Spirit, and Lin Li's Cyclonus Li.
Another example is Super Luo of Luo Jiu, super peak of Bai Feng, and super fly of Xiao Fei.
Although there are no agreed-upon rules, it is a coincidence that the Qin family basically chooses the name of the Cyclone series, while the Zhu family basically chooses the Super series.
Therefore, the Wang Chao racket should actually be named "Super King".
But Wang Chao thought the name was too unpleasant. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided to name the racket "Superconductor".
Superconductor is a physical term that refers to a material that exhibits zero resistance under certain conditions. The name Wang Chao is meant to say that when you hold this racket in your hand, there is no barrier to you. You can truly use your fingers like an arm and swing freely, and perfectly display everything you want to hit.
Hongshuangli finally adopted the suggestion of Wang Chao, because they also think the name is quite cool. At the same time, the existence of the word "super" can still make it included in the super series of their own brand.
But what they didn't expect was that the racket would have another name after it was sold: Overload.
This racket is too difficult to use. Its underlying frame is Super Luo. Super Luo itself is a racket that places great emphasis on friction and is extremely difficult to control. On this basis, Wang Chao once again increases the friction, elasticity and stickiness, making this racket almost anti-human, at least. Amateur players don't even think about it. Even for professional players, it takes at least a few months to get started. This leads to those die-hard fans of Wang Chao who can't feel the racket after buying it. The more they play, the worse it gets. In the end, they have to put away their love for Wang Chao and switch to other rackets.
And this Superconductor became something that could only be collected but not used. Its final sales were not good, which hurt Hongshuangli.
Fans jokingly call it "overload", which means that it is too difficult to use and they cannot bear it at all, and the load is seriously overloaded.
Five days after Wang Chao got the racket, the Chinese table tennis team once again left the base in a mighty manner and boarded the plane to Budapest, Hungary. Player coaches and all staff, logistics personnel, and sparring partners totaled hundreds of people. It was a huge scale.
World Table Tennis Championships, which has been warmed up for a full month, finally kicked off.