Provincial Team Arrives

"I miscalculated…" Luo Zhihong sat in a monitoring room overlooking the table tennis court, staring at the crystal-clear footage on the large screen and feeling like cursing.

Wang Chao had actually wronged him.

He wanted to see Wang Chao fight Wu Li even more than anyone else.

He just felt that Wang Chao, being a newcomer with an unconventional background, lacked solid fundamentals and had no match experience. If he were to compete hastily, his performance might be unstable.

Therefore, he had meticulously designed a series of challenges, intending for Wang Chao and Jiang Shan to progress step by step. This way, their condition would improve as they played, their movements would become more agile, and they would reach their peak when they finally faced Wu Li.

What he wanted to see was peak Wang Chao versus peak Wu Li!

However… had he messed it up?

"Didn't this kid train his stamina day and night? Why is he so useless? He's already half-dead after just playing Liu Heng?" Luo Zhihong felt a pang of disappointment, his hard work unappreciated. Beside him, several coaches watched him with admiration.

These assistant coaches couldn't grasp their head coach's true intentions. They only thought that the head coach was indeed a master strategist, having crippled the arrogant Wang Chao with simple lineup arrangements.

They believed that a mischievous player who always defeated opponents decisively needed the head coach to put him in his place.

So, they all thought in unison: "The head coach is giving Wang Chao a taste of his own medicine!"

"This is such a perfectly executed show of dominance!"

"The head coach's wisdom is truly beyond ordinary men!"

"11:7, Wang Chao wins the sixth game." The scorekeeper announced the final result loudly: "Total score 4:2, Wang Chao defeats Liu Heng."

Wang Chao let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the floor without a word, feeling like he could fall asleep instantly.

On the other side of the table, Liu Heng also let out a long sigh, his face filled with unwillingness.

He thought he could win, but even though Wang Chao was clearly exhausted, his movement and swings had become sluggish, he still couldn't manage to take a game.

He felt like he had encountered a cunning fox, employing all sorts of deceptive moves, feints, and bluffs. Many of these tactics didn't fall under the category of technical skill, but by slowly grinding him down, he had managed to wear him out point by point until he finally lost.

But then he looked at the scoreboard again and felt happy.

He had completed all fifteen matches, winning thirteen and losing two. He lost one to Wu Li and one to Wang Chao, temporarily ranking third.

Barring any surprises, his final ranking should also be third.

Although he had dropped from second to third in the last round robin, what Liu Heng truly cared about were the three spots for the promotion-relegation matches at the provincial team next spring. For him, second or third place made no difference.

Through today's round robin, he was certain he was third and no one would take his spot.

So, he went to Wang Chao's side, pulled Wang Chao up to a sitting position, and then moved behind him to give him a muscle massage.

His grip was surprisingly strong, his knowledge of pressure points precise. He kneaded, patted, and tapped, performing the massage with remarkable professionalism.

Wang Chao grunted in comfort, but also with some curiosity, "What are you doing?"

"Don't talk. Relax your whole body. You shouldn't lie down immediately after intense exercise; it can be dangerous."

Liu Heng had a bit of a domineering CEO vibe: "Wang Chao, you played well. I admire you. That's why I really want to see you beat that madman."

Wang Chao was stunned.

"Alas, it's impossible this time," Liu Heng sighed. "Why are you so weak? If you had half my stamina, you could really go toe-to-toe with Wu Li."

Twenty minutes later, Wang Chao faced Wu Li.

The twenty-minute wait was because Luo Zhihong's arrangement wasn't optimal. To ensure the sequence of the two newcomers' challenges, many tables were left idle. Wu Li, as the Great Demon King, had few matches in the morning, with almost all his games concentrated in the afternoon. He had eliminated one challenger after another in his role as the dragon guarding the pass.

The second to last to be eliminated was Jiang Shan. Jiang Shan played very slowly, carefully considering almost every shot. Although the match still ended with a 4:0 score, the entire game lasted a full forty minutes.

After watching this match in the monitoring room, Luo Zhihong and the others generally gave high praise.

"We should cultivate him well in the future. This kid has potential," said a stern middle-aged man beside Luo Zhihong. "When he gets older, our provincial team will focus on him next year."

The middle-aged man was Jiang Long, a coach from the Hubei Provincial Team. He was present because he held two very important recommendation slots.

Before this, Wu Li had already been a default candidate for one recommendation spot. Jiang Long's words now indicated that Jiang Shan was also being considered.

Luo Zhihong was delighted. For him, sending a promising talent to the provincial team was a great achievement.

He asked, "What about Wang Chao?"

"I don't think he's ready yet," Jiang Long shook his head. "Watching all the matches this afternoon, he occasionally made brilliant plays, showing good talent. But his body is too weak, and his fundamental skills are likely not great either. Although he kept winning, many of his victories came from calculation and deception, not from technical skill."

Luo Zhihong disagreed. "But the national team coaches have also said that in real international competitions, mentality and calculation are often more important than technique."

Jiang Long didn't refute him, just chuckled and pointed at the screen, "Let's watch the game first. It's about to begin."

This was the last match of the day.

Whether by coincidence or design, this match was scheduled for last, drawing all the players and coaches to gather around, as if witnessing the arrival of an important moment.

The title of the Jiangcheng City Table Tennis Team's top player would be decided today.

Wang Chao won the coin toss and chose to serve. Before serving, he had a sudden feeling and looked towards a spot on the court, seeing Luo Zhihong slowly walking over with the stern man.

This match was very important, and Jiang Long didn't want to watch it on the monitoring screen; he wanted to be present to observe closely.

At this moment, someone by the sidelines shouted, "Go Wang Chao!"

It turned out to be Li Shaoqin, whom Wang Chao had been tormenting relentlessly these past few days.

Wang Chao was a little surprised and looked up. Li Shaoqin grinned at him and pointed proudly at the scoreboard beside them.

The scoreboard was densely filled with the scores of all the team members. Wang Chao saw that Li Shaoqin's column read 3 wins and 12 losses, ranking him 13th.

Wang Chao was somewhat taken aback.

If he remembered correctly, Li Shaoqin had also ranked 13th in the last internal round robin. But he shouldn't forget that the three unfortunate players ranked behind him at the time were Gao Ming, Li Fang, and Zhou Bo.

Now, Gao Ming had left the team, and Li Fang had been demoted to the substitute team. This meant that the only person weaker than Li Shaoqin on the team was Zhou Bo.

Li Shaoqin still ranked 13th, which meant he had defeated two opponents he couldn't beat before.

And his progress was precisely due to the crazy torment Wang Chao had inflicted on him these days.

His shout of "Go!" felt more like a form of gratitude towards Wang Chao.

Wang Chao smiled and quickly refocused his attention on the present, sending a very cautious short backspin.

Of course, he wouldn't be intimidated by Wu Li's aura. However, when facing an opponent he had never encountered before, a short backspin was undoubtedly the safest, all-purpose choice.

He needed to use this most basic shot to test Wu Li's playing style.

As the small ball landed on the table, Wu Li immediately reacted.

His speed was astonishingly fast. In just an instant, he had circled from the opposite side of the table directly to its side. Then, he raised his hand, met the ball with his paddle, and suddenly exerted force.

Wang Chao perceived Wu Li's intention immediately. This was clearly an extremely difficult inside-the-table flick!

Wang Chao tried to retreat as much as possible, intercepting the ball on its correct path. But the power of Wu Li's flick was incredibly strong, and the ball speed was also incredibly fast. With just a flash of white, it had already reached him.

Wang Chao hastily raised his hand but couldn't keep up. The small ball grazed the edge of his paddle, which had just reached the correct position, and flew out.

1:0, Wu Li scored with a counter-attack.

"So aggressive!" Wang Chao was slightly shocked inwardly. "He's going all out from the very first point?"