Chapter 296: Help Only the One in Need (1/2)
Chapter 296: Help Only the One in Need
Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the Swedish Open was approaching, the national table tennis team began to make preparations accordingly. They cancelled their two-day rest each week, and instead, rested for one day every two weeks. Also, the daily training time was extended by two hours.
At six o'clock in the morning, Dai Li reached the training ground and found that all the members of the first team had been there doing warm-ups already. That day, the first team had a practice match with the other team.
The match was in the form of a round robin, and should be finished in one day. The winner of each game would win 1 point, while the loser would get none. The ranking would be made according to the score points each team totally won.
The first team consisted of 26 players, equal numbers of which were male players and female players. Everyone had to face 12 rivals and thus, needed to have 12 matches in all. Assuming that one match would take one hour, 12 matches would take 12 hours, which meant it would last from the morning to the evening.
Playing 12 matches in a day was a great test of the athletes' staminas. There were no weak chickens in the first team. Everyone in the team was competent enough to earn the global champion status. So, they all had to treat their matches seriously.
Being a young athlete was advantageous for such intense matches, because they had youth and energy on their sides. For those elder athletes, the matches might be harder, due to the fact that they had less stamina and more injuries.
They knew each other well. So, in this team practice, the coaches in charge would not give any instruction. They would just let the athletes adjust their own strategies for themselves.
The practice match was finally over. Though tired, the athletes did not forget to check their results.
”Anshan Wang won 12 matches in a row! He must be in excellent condition!”
”Xiangxian Zuo earned 11 points. His only loss was the match against Anshan Wang!”
”Doesn't he have a waist injury? Days ago, he had to do this training with waist support. I thought he might lose a few matches!”
”When I was fighting with him, he played fiercely in the match, as if he had no injury at all. His pen-hold style was so hard to defeat. You would lose if you could not defeat him in the first three turns.”
”What you just said reminded me of that. I met him in my 11th match.”
”That was close to the end. If he was still that good then, his injury must have healed.”
While everyone else was busy discussing the results, Pengfei Cui's face looked a bit unnatural. He had earned only 6 points in these matches, winning 6 matches and losing 6 of the other 6 matches. He was obviously unsatisfied with his results.
As the grand slam winner in table tennis, he had been the number one in the national team some years ago. But now, due to his injuries, he had lost his position in the team and often got defeated by younger players in the team.
Xiangxian Zuo was also troubled by injuries. Both of them shared this same miserable fate. However, today's matches had shown that Zuo was not much influenced or impaired by that.
”I have fallen behind!” Cui clenched his fists tightly. His own pride chastised him not to be a drag.
…
In the dining room, there were obviously many more dishes on Xiangxian Zuo's plate. Thanks to the easing of his injury, he had been in a much lighter mood these days. The recent increase of training had also increased his appetite.
Having hesitated for a few seconds, Cui finally came to Zuo's place and sat down. They had been teammates for several years, and trained together all-day long. So, Cui felt comfortable in asking Zuo directly, ”How's your waist?”
”Better. It won't affect me during the games, as long as I pay more attention to my waist and not letting myself get too tired. How about you?” Zuo asked.