While the players were taking their noon break, Wang Yi finished lunch and drew up a preliminary roster of fifteen in his office.
The fifteen-player roster was now provisionally set.
The tournament would open tomorrow.
The actual games would begin the day after.
With a day and a half left, Wang Yi would make final adjustments based on the players' physical and mental condition, among other factors.
The following afternoon, the Chang'an city and county basketball tournament officially opened at Huali Basketball School in Chang'an Province.
First, the organizing committee chairman took an oath and delivered a speech.
The oath was meant to represent the entire organizing committee's pledge to ensure the tournament was fair and impartial.
Next, a representative of the referees took an oath.
After that came the group draw. Once the results were announced, the organizing committee would immediately begin arranging the schedule for the group stage.
Then a representative of the coaches took an oath.
Wang Yi had been chosen to represent the coaches.
On behalf of all the coaches, he pledged that they would not fix games, resort to underhanded tactics, or bribe referees, the organizing committee, or players from other teams, and that they would compete with absolute fairness.
Just as Wang Yi finished his oath and was about to step down from the stage, the host and the organizing committee leaders asked him to give a speech.
After all, Wang Yi was a world-class basketball star. It would have seemed a little odd for him not to say a few words.
Wang Yi hadn't intended to give a speech, but he couldn't turn them down, so he nodded.
Looking at the more than four hundred people below—the coaches, players, team leaders, and others from the fourteen teams—he smiled and said:
"The leaders and