Promotion and Relegation Match

Wu Li is twenty-one this year. He plays exceptionally well, but his personality is too reserved.

He lightly knocked on the half-open office door and walked in quietly. He stood there silently, looking at Luo Zhihong, not making a sound. Yet, a hint of gloom was subtly present in his brow. He had been practicing diligently when he was suddenly called away, which would disrupt his training plan for the day.

"You..." Luo Zhihong pointed at him, wanting to scold him to vent his frustration, but he stopped himself. He knew scolding would be useless.

This kid was just like that. If he could change, he would have done so when he joined the team two years ago.

But since the person was here, he had to say something. "Daily practice is different from official matches. Do you... understand that?"

Wu Li hesitated for a moment and said reluctantly, "I understand."

"Especially when practicing with your sparring partners."

Luo Zhihong said earnestly, "Others are sacrificing their training time to help you improve. You need to respect them..." Wu Li's lips moved, but he remained silent.

Luo Zhihong continued, "You play well, we all know that. But when you usually play, can you be a little, just a little, kinder to them?"

Wu Li said, "Coach Luo, I..."

"Don't say anything, let me speak," Luo Zhihong interrupted him. "In practice games, winning or losing a point, what's the big deal? If you occasionally go easy on them and let them win a few points, will that really affect your training results?"

Seeing Wu Li about to speak again, he raised his voice, "You don't speak!"

Wu Li felt wronged, but he ultimately pursed his lips tightly.

"You complained to me last time, saying Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian's skill level wasn't high enough to serve the purpose of practice, and you wanted to change sparring partners. But do you know what? I've tried my best to persuade people, but no one is willing to be your sparring partner. It's only Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian, who haven't been at the base for long and are still timid, who are practicing with you under my coercion."

Luo Zhihong truly had a bellyful of grievances he wanted to pour out. "But look at what you've done! You beat them badly every day! You don't let them win a single point! Other people's parents used to visit the base three times a month. This time, they directly staged a scene with me, crying and making a fuss, refusing to let their children play with you at all."

He spread his hands and sighed, "What am I supposed to do now?"

Although Wu Li didn't think he was wrong, he knew he had caused trouble for the head coach. He mumbled for a long time before saying in a low voice, "I heard there's a promotion and relegation match tomorrow?"

Hearing this, Luo Zhihong couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, Wu Li, are you already setting your sights on the new players? You played so ruthlessly against Xiao Ping and Xiao Jian, it wasn't intentional, was it?"

Wu Li remained silent, lowering his head and pretending to be dead. His meaning was also clear: criticize me however you want. The situation is already like this, and you, the elder, will ultimately have to solve the problem.

Luo Zhihong, unable to stand it any longer, kicked him in the backside and cursed with a laugh, "You little rascal, get out of here!"

After Wu Li left, Luo Zhihong couldn't sit still. He made another call. "Coach Wang, the spots for the promotion and relegation match are out, right? Come over, let's talk."

Early this morning, the promotion and relegation matches officially began.

For the Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Team, this was a rare opportunity for the main players and reserve players to compete on the same stage, and also a time for all the coaches to gather.

There was no training today. All the reserve players were present to watch the matches.

The main players, except for the three who needed to compete, were free to move around. They could watch the matches or go for training; there were no strict regulations.

Wang Chao looked towards a certain spot in the stadium from afar. He knew that the kind-faced, semi-bald middle-aged man was the highest-ranking official at this base, the head coach Luo Zhihong.

If nothing unexpected happened, after today's match, this person would likely be his head coach.

Without much ceremony, six players stepped forward. They were the top three reserve players, Wang Chao, Jiang Shan, and Tian Ye, and the bottom three main players, Zhou Bo, Li Fang, and Gao Ming.

The subsequent matchups were: Reserve Player #1 vs. Main Player #6, Reserve Player #2 vs. Main Player #5, and so on.

Actually, this rule wasn't particularly rigorous and contained a certain degree of luck and coincidence. The truly fairest selection method would be a six-player round-robin.

However, for many years, China's internal promotion and relegation matches at all levels had followed this simple rule without any changes. And China's table tennis had always remained world number one, with no issues arising.

Therefore, Luo Zhihong naturally wouldn't deliberately try to be unconventional this time.

In his opinion, this was a kind of "metaphysics" in the table tennis world, and possibly even a loophole deliberately left by the hidden big shots in the national team.

After all, who said luck wasn't a part of skill?

So the final matchups were:

Wang Chao vs. Gao Ming.

Jiang Shan vs. Li Fang.

Tian Ye vs. Zhou Bo.

Three matches, best of seven games, with the winners promoted to the main team and the losers relegated to the reserve team. It was simple and clear.

The three matches were held sequentially on the same table, allowing other players to observe and learn up close.

Wang Chao was the first to play. He saw that his opponent, Gao Ming, had a weathered look on his face. His brows seemed to carry three parts anxiety, three parts ferocity, three parts confusion, and a trace of madness.

This led Wang Chao to have a subtle guess.

Gao Ming was twenty-five years old this year. For a professional table tennis player, that age was not young. Being stuck in the city team now, the chances of entering the national team were slim to none. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that he was the type of person Jiang Shan had mentioned before, someone who planned to hone his skills at the base and then play in the Table Tennis League B, treating it as a job to support his family.

Gao Ming served first, a very standard short backspin.

Wang Chao didn't attack directly but calmly pushed the ball back.

Gao Ming was also unwilling to exert force. In such a situation of exchanging short pushes, the one who initiated the attack had to bear the risk of offense. So, he pushed another short ball.

After three exchanges in the first point, Wang Chao had a basic understanding of his opponent's style and mentality.

"A typical 'old grinder' player. His playing style is relatively rigid. He seeks no merit, only no fault. His mentality is stable, and his patience is ample. He wants to slowly find an opportunity and then strike a killing blow. But... playing like this, there are basically no variables in the match. He's very steady against weaker opponents, but against those stronger than him, he has no chance at all."

This shot was quite uninspired. Both players exchanged pushes for a full seven rallies, until Gao Ming's return was slightly too high, and Wang Chao flicked it back for a direct point.

On the second ball, Gao Ming served another short backspin. The rally continued with them pushing back and forth, and after another six exchanges, Wang Chao's return was a bit high, and Gao Ming flicked it back for a point.

The first two balls were tied 1-1. Many of the main team players who came to watch the novelty were shaking their heads on the sidelines, some yawning, others turning to leave.

They had heard a few days ago that a folk prodigy had joined the reserve team, and they had discussed it extensively. Later, they heard that this folk prodigy had caused a lot of trouble, which piqued their curiosity even more. So today, except for Wu Li, that crazy guy who was still training intensely, everyone else had come to watch the spectacle.

The result...

Is this it?

Playing like this against Gao Ming, with such a dull match, the main team players felt that meeting him in person was not as impressive as hearing about him.

Even Luo Zhihong couldn't help but glance at Wang Bin beside him.

"I can't figure out what this kid is thinking," Wang Bin explained in a low voice. "But Coach Luo, I can guarantee you, this kid is very likely the best prospect our Jiangcheng City has had in the last three years."

Luo Zhihong chuckled lightly, dismissively. "Better than Wu Li?"

Wang Bin was stunned for a moment, then after thinking for a long time, he said, "I don't know. How about... we let them play against each other?"