Table Tennis: Super Grand Slam

Chapter 69: Li Ying triggers changes in time and space, Kuwait Open begins

When you are training, time always passes quickly.

On February 2, a large group of Xia Guo’s national table tennis team arrived in Kuwait City.

There are dozens of players, coaches, logistics support personnel, medical staff, etc. from the men's and women's table tennis teams. The Xiaguo national table tennis team is now wealthy and powerful, so it directly chose to charter a plane.

After getting off the plane, I went straight to the hotel.

When they arrived at the four-star hotel closest to the competition venue, Li Ying still shared a room with Chen Daqian.

After putting down his luggage and taking a shower, Li Ying lay leisurely on the soft bed.

"Brother Qian, why did Meng Li and Ma Qing both sign up for this open tournament? With their current status in the martial arts world, do they still need to participate in an open tournament?"

Li Ying asked in surprise and confusion.

In other words, he now urgently needs an open tournament championship to upgrade his table tennis skills to the maximum level. If he wins the open tournament championship, his strength can be further improved.

if not.

Li Ying might not be willing to participate in a two-star open tournament like this one.

"The Yokohama World Table Tennis Championships will be held at the end of April. They are using the tournament as a training opportunity. Also, don't underestimate this open tournament, because it is right next to the Qatar Open. Generally speaking, superstars from table tennis associations around the world will sign up for these two open tournaments."

Chen Daqian explained with a smile.

"I thought that all the global table tennis superstars would only go for the Qatar Open, which has the highest prize money." Li Ying touched his head and smiled.

After all, this is Li Ying's first time participating in the Kuwait Open.

"The Qatar Open's prize money has increased year by year, and now its popularity is almost catching up with the Korea Open and Ryuo Open. However, it cannot be compared with the Xiaguo Open for the time being," said Chen Daqian with a smile.

"After all, we have money here, so I can understand it." Li Ying said with a smile.

"Ma Qing/Su Yan have both signed up for the men's doubles this time. Moreover, Liang Long is paired with Dou Yang. These two teams are obstacles to you and Xu Guinian winning the men's doubles championship." Chen Daqian said with a smile.

Li Ying shook his head slightly.

"Brother Qian, we can't ignore the foreign superstars in this open tournament. Whether it's the German twins or the French twin brothers, they have made great progress. On the contrary, I feel that the foreign doubles combination puts more pressure on Xu Guinian and me."

Li Ying never ignores foreign superstars. Perhaps it is because of the changes in this time and space butterfly that the foreign table tennis associations on Blue Star all pay great attention to improving the strength of their own table tennis superstars.

Li Ying dared to conclude.

It will be difficult for China to dominate the table tennis industry in the future.

These outsourced superstars are also very competitive.

but.

The more this happened, the more challenging Li Ying felt it was.

Today, he cannot be called invincible.

But that's what makes the game interesting.

if not.

When one day your table tennis rating is really raised to 100, and you become the table tennis god, invincible on the entire blue planet, that feeling of being the only one seeking to be defeated might not be easy.

When that time really comes, Li Ying might choose to retire.

But now the strength score is only 97.1, which is still far from 100 points.

"Foreign associations do pay great attention to promoting their own superstars, because they place their bets on one or two superstars, and it is difficult to cultivate a third superstar. It's not like our Xiaguo national table tennis team, which has many talented players."

"Strictly speaking, every player on the first team can be trained to become a superstar. But that would be a waste of resources. And with such a balanced system, I'm afraid they won't be as good as legendary foreign stars by then."

"That's why there is a division of core players. All of this is to create the strongest table tennis players of each era to compete with table tennis masters from all over the world."

"Aying, we had too many shortcomings during the Chollima era. Although we were the kings of Xia Country, we lost many international championships."

“I hope that in this era, you can take back all the championships we once lost.”

Chen Daqian said with deep emotion.

Li Ying nodded.

"Let's go and eat."

Chen Daqian received a message from the team leader.

Li Ying immediately rolled over from the bed. When it came to eating, Li Ying was always enthusiastic.

When he arrived at the restaurant and saw the table filled with Xia country specialties, Li Ying couldn't help but look at Chen Daqian in surprise.

Li Ying never imagined that the Xiaguo national table tennis team had become so wealthy and powerful that they even brought chefs to this foreign country.

It is so rare to be able to eat familiar hometown dishes in a foreign country.

"In order to provide you with the best protection, the Table Tennis Association has indeed spent a lot of money. However, as long as we can do a good job of your logistics, it is all worth it."

Chen Daqian smiled.

After eating and drinking enough, Li Ying was very satisfied.

Li Ying went straight back to his room. In this foreign country, Li Ying didn't dare to wander around.

and.

The national table tennis team has rules and regulations that strictly prohibit team members from going out.

Especially those who go out without permission for no reason.

Li Ying is very well behaved and complies with these rules completely.

As for foreign red-light districts, Li Ying said he had never heard of them.

Chen Daqian went to a meeting.

Wang Xianlan sent a text message.

"Aying, I feel a little unwell."

After seeing the text message, Li Ying called immediately.

"Aying!" Wang Xianlan's voice on the other end of the phone was indeed a little weak.

"When we were having dinner just now, I noticed that you were not in good condition. But you women's table tennis players were having dinner together, so it was not convenient for me to come over and join you. Did you take your medicine? Did you tell the doctor?" Li Ying asked hurriedly.

"It's not a cold, I'm just feeling unwell!" Wang Xianlan seemed reluctant to say more.

"Oh!" Li Ying suddenly realized that it was Wang Xianlan's period that came.

but.

This comes at a bad time.

Li Ying knew that Wang Xianlan was obsessed with winning the women's singles championship at the Kuwait Open or Qatar Open, and thus qualifying for the singles at the World Table Tennis Championships.

If I fail to get it, I'm afraid I'll have to return home and participate in the second stage of the competition to Yokohama.

That would be even more cruel.

Because every opponent we meet is a master of women's table tennis.

"But now I am like a housewife without rice. I don't have brown sugar and I don't have kitchen utensils. I can only tell you to drink more hot water." Li Ying said with a wry smile.

"It's okay, I know my own body. I just feel a little uncomfortable right now, so I want to talk to you." Wang Xianlan said sweetly at this moment.

At this time, she was particularly attached to Li Ying.

"Then let me talk to you."

Li Ying knew what to say to arouse Wang Xianlan's interest.

"Go ahead, I'll cover my whole body with the quilt. I'm very warm, you don't have to worry." Wang Xianlan seemed to have regained some strength.

"Well, I said it!"

What Li Ying said refers to the opponents Wang Xianlan might encounter in this open tournament, whether they are the Chinese women's table tennis team or foreign women's table tennis masters.

Li Ying analyzed their skills and tactics. On this point, Li Ying unconditionally stood on Wang Xianlan's side. This might be a little unfair to other women's table tennis players. But Li Ying knew that secretly, the women's table tennis players were probably also analyzing and studying Wang Xianlan.

if not.

If Wang Xianlan had not been studied as thoroughly as Kong Fengge, she would not have only finished fourth in the first stage of the women's table tennis direct tour to Yokohama.

Even if you can't get first place, there is still a good chance of getting second or third place.

But Wang Xianlan's result was fourth.

This shows that other people are also studying Wang Xianlan’s playing style.

There is also very fierce competition within the national table tennis team.

It’s just that sometimes it’s suppressed and covered up by the top management of the national table tennis team.

Sure enough, Li Ying's words successfully attracted Wang Xianlan's attention.

Li Ying didn't end the long phone call until Chen Daqian came back.

after all.

Li Ying could tell Wang Xianlan in private, but he would never say it in front of Chen Daqian.

Because Li Ying knew that Chen Daqian's personality made him personally rather disgusted with this aspect.

but.

Chen Daqian would never know that Li Ying had such a thing as fantasy space.

On the surface, Chen Daqian and Li Ying have never studied the players on the team, but in fact, Li Ying has thoroughly studied the other players of the national table tennis team through simulated combat in the fantasy space.

"Aying, you really got it right. This time, the foreign superstars are really well prepared. The Direct to Yokohama event we held some time ago provided very good videos to the external association. It was enough for them to study. They heard that they claimed to have studied thoroughly several main players of the Xia country's national table tennis team." Chen Daqian said with a smile.

There is no airtight wall in this world.

"Hosting the World's Strongest 12 naturally has its pros and cons. However, even if we don't hold the World's Strongest 12, the Chinese table tennis team will still come out to participate in the open tournament."

Li Ying smiled and said, "Video recordings are everywhere. If the foreign association thinks that they have thoroughly studied the main players of our Xiaguo national table tennis team, then I can only say that their research may be too superficial."

"The draw just ended. This time the ITTF did not do anything weird. It was a random draw, and there was no principle of avoiding the same country. The 128 singles players were randomly drawn into four semi-zones."

Chen Daqian said in a deep voice, "We in Xia country are relatively lucky. You are not in the same half zone as Mengli, Ma Qing, and Liang Long. If everyone can hold their own line."

"Then, it is possible for you to meet in the semifinals. However, each division has superstars from outside the league. In other words, you will all experience foreign battles."

"Although you have already qualified for the World Table Tennis Championships, you should try not to lose foreign matches. But Ah Ying, don't put too much psychological pressure on yourself. We, the Qianlima, have all lost foreign matches before."

"For the men's doubles draw, six teams are known as the seeded combinations, three teams in each of the upper and lower halves."

Hearing this, Li Ying asked curiously, "It's not just our Xiaguo Team 3, but also the German twins and the French twin brothers. Where did the sixth pair come from?"

"There is also Truss from Sweden. His men's doubles team is composed of members of the Xia Guoyuan provincial team who recently naturalized and joined Sweden." Chen Daqian said with a smile.

Li Ying smiled and said, "This is normal. There are so many young table tennis talents in Xia Country. Many young table tennis talents find that they can't see any opportunities in Xia Country, so they naturally choose to naturalize."

After hearing Li Ying's words, Chen Daqian didn't say much.

But in fact.

At this moment, what he was thinking about was what Dong Yaobang, the head coach of the men's team, said during a meeting of the national table tennis coaching staff.

"Since Aying's sudden rise, a lot of players have left recently. Among them, young talents aged 15 to 18 are the most numerous."

"Because they know very well that they have no hope of winning the championship in Xia Country. So, if they want to stand out, they have to go abroad."

"Among them, many of the real talents have been taken away by Hong Kong, Macao and Formosa. So in the future, the three places that may challenge the national table tennis team may be Hong Kong, Macao and Formosa."

"Of course, foreign associations have also been on the rise recently and will become a big enemy of the national table tennis team in the future."

Chen Daqian naturally knew it well.

Because if he were fifteen years younger, he would be in the prime of his life at the age of sixteen. He would have already made a name for himself in the provincial team and wanted to make a breakthrough into the national team.

But once he saw Li Ying, his desire to join the national team might not be strong enough.

Li Ying is only 17 years old.

Now he is showing his dominance over the national table tennis team.

Then is there any possibility of shaking Li Ying in the Xiaguo national table tennis team?
Many table tennis geniuses think they don't have it.

They are also considered table tennis geniuses.

But facing Li Ying, a table tennis super genius who was praised by the men's team head coach Dong Yaobang as a once-in-a-century super talent in Xia country, they felt that even if they entered the national team, they would have no hope of making a breakthrough.

and so.

On the Internet, the popularity of 92 San Shao has increased rapidly recently.

It’s not because the 92nd Young Master is handsome, nor is it because the 92nd Young Master is brave enough to fight.

It is because many table tennis fans in Xia country have already seen the ending of the three young players from 92.

That's why I sympathize with them and have pity on them.

If the three young players from 92 cannot catch up quickly, it will become a tragedy for a generation.

If they cannot replace the Dragon, Phoenix and Turtle, they will sooner or later be replaced by younger talents of the national table tennis team.

The 92nd young master who was caught in the middle was almost destined to a tragic fate from the very beginning.

2 month 11 day.

Cowell local time in the afternoon.

The Open Tournament begins.

The open tournament is usually held for 5 days.

Moreover, the sessions and rounds are almost fixed.

Take singles as an example.

The 128 players are divided into four semi-zones.

There are 32 players in each half, and only two players from each half can eventually become the quarterfinals of the Open.

那这样的话，比赛就有32进16、16进8、8进4、4进2，总共四轮的分区赛，就类似小组赛。

After the quarter-finals are decided, the quarter-finals will be held to determine the top four teams that will participate in the semi-finals.

Then comes the semi-finals and finals.

If we take this approach, it will take exactly five days.

Moreover, doubles matches will be interspersed in between.

The competition lasts for 5 days and the time is very tight.

For table tennis players, they have to play four games a day at most.

Maybe two singles games and two doubles games.

This requires a lot of physical strength from table tennis players.

Li Ying looked at his match schedule.

The only person to watch out for in his half is Dimitri.

Other table tennis superstars are concentrated in the other three semi-zones.

If nothing unexpected happens, Dimitri will also be able to enter the quarterfinals.

Li Ying will face Dimitri in the quarter-finals for a chance to participate in the semi-finals.

In this way, the front part can still be played easily.

(End of this chapter)