Almighty Coach

Chapter 288: The Surprising S-Plus Grade Talent

Chapter 288: The Surprising S-Plus Grade Talent

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Coach Li, I was selected! I was selected by the national team!" Feng Zhu said with excitement, his eyes twinkling with light.

Feng Zhu fulfilled the dream of three generations of his family and finally joined the national team.

As a newly-selected player on the national team, Feng Zhu had to stay on Team Two. If he wanted to be a member of Team One, it would require more effort.

Within the national table tennis team, there was a trial of upgrade and downgrade, which was attended by the last several players of Team One and the first several players of Team Two. The trial adopted the round-robin fashion and it was ranked by points.

The players with the most points could stay on Team One if they were already a member of Team One. If they were on Team Two, then they could join Team One.

Players from Team Two with low points would remain on Team Two, while Team One players with low points could actually be demoted.

In this trial of upgrade and downgrade, the low-ranking players had to attend the match of upgrade and downgrade. The famous world champions in the top of Team One, however, didn’t need to attend the trials.

But in Team Two, only the players who ranked at the top were qualified to attend the trials. Thus, new players in Team Two were not qualified to attend the trials.

For example, Feng Zhu had to stay in Team Two for a while. He needed to experience all kinds of matches and round-robin’s to improve his ranking in Team Two, and when he reached the top of Team Two, he would get the opportunity to attend the trials of upgrade and downgrade and then go to Team One.

In addition, Team Two had very fierce competition. In Team One, poor performance would be relegated to Team Two, but poor performance in Team Two would result in elimination from the national team.

If an athlete could go to Team One within two years, then he or she would be regarded as a talent, and would deserve the cultivation of the national team. And those who became members of the nation’s Team Two at the age of 14 or 15 and entered Team One at the age of 16 would be world champions in the future, maybe even the rulers of an era.

Feng Zhu was 20 years old, so he had no advantages in terms of age. He just entered Team Two, while there were many people who had been in Team One before the age of 18. Therefore, there were many people with much greater talent than Feng Zhu.

In the teams of Hanbei province, Feng Zhu had been a well-deserved "team leader." But in the national table tennis team, he was just a common player. The great change in status could leave a person at a loss.

Dai Li didn’t know if Feng Zhu could adapt to the change of status, and if he couldn’t adapt to it, it might not be long before he was eliminated from the national team.

Looking at Feng Zhu’s back, Dai Li suddenly felt a sense of melancholy.

Feng Zhu had realized his dream, but he had also met a greater challenge. His future path would be more difficult than it had been.

The next second, Dai Li suddenly thought of himself.

The national table tennis team was also quite strange to Dai Li, and the strange environment was a new challenge for him. What’s more, the national table tennis team was totally different from the national track team, in which Dai Li was protected by Li Xue. But in national table tennis, he had nothing.

Thinking of Li Xue, Dai Li had a sense of sadness. Li Xue had tried his best to cultivate Dai Li, and he even regarded Dai Li as his future successor. However, Dai Li had chosen to become the fitness coach of the national table tennis team, and Dai Li didn’t know if it was a betrayal of Li Xue.

Dai Li was very confused, and finally he picked up his phone and dialed Xue’s number. But he still didn’t know how to explain it to Xue.

Finally, Dai Li told Li Xue he would go to the national table tennis team, and Li Xue was lost in contemplation.

After more than a minute, Li Xue heaved a sigh.

Li Xue didn’t blame Dai Li, but encouraged him. "Dai Li, the national table tennis team will treat you well. But the Sports General Administration has high requirements for the national team. So, you must work hard, and do not embarrass me!"

Dai Li could feel that Li Xue’s words were full of melancholy, but also blessing for Dai Li.

Actually, Li Xue knew that the national table tennis team was more suitable for a young person such as Dai Li. There were much better players, more matches and more champions, and for young coaches, a broader space for development.

Athletes needed matches and gold medals to improve and encourage themselves, and so did coaches. If a coach could not meet a good athlete and participate in high-level matches, he could remain unknown despite being a professional. On the contrary, even an ordinary coach would improve after winning several championships.

So, compared with the national track team, the national table tennis team was a better stage for Dai Li.

A week later, Dai Li finished his job transfer and he came to Huajing again to sign up for the national table tennis team.

The training center of national table tennis team.

At the training center, Dai Li met many famous people whom he had previously only seen on television. Some of them had been on television ten or twenty years ago. Those older people were now retired coaches, but they had facilitated many brilliant achievements for the national table tennis team and won many championships. And the young athletes were following the footsteps of the former generation, and would continue their brilliant achievements.

Zhizhong Gu showed Dai Li around and introduced him to everyone.

"Anshan Wang, the team leader of the men’s table tennis team. I think you are familiar with him without introduction!" Zhizhong Gu said, pointing at Wang.

Dai Li nodded; there was no doubt that he knew Anshan Wang. People in China who paid attention to table tennis all knew Anshan Wang.

Anshan Wang, 28 years old, was a leading player in the men’s table tennis teams of China. He had ranked first in the world for three consecutive years, and he was a grand slam winner in table tennis, called "the best player in men’s table tennis."

Dai Li subconsciously detected Anshan Wang.

S plus! His talent is S plus! It was what Dai Li had expected, but it still took his breath away.

Anshan Wang was the first player Dai Li had met with the S-plus grade talent, and according to the system’s description, a player who had S-plus grade talent was capable of ruling an age. Actually, Anshan Wang had already done this; in the past year, he won the men’s singles championships of World Championships, the World Cup, and the finals of the International Table Tennis Federation world tour. All of these reflected the absolute dominance of Anshan Wang. And the players on men’s table tennis team voted him team leader, which also reflected a different aspect of his strength.

His ability value was 992! Only eight points less than the full score. Of all the athletes I have ever seen, Anshan Wang has the highest ability value! If he could get my help in his explosive, would his ability value break 1000?

"His advantages: comprehensive play, balanced attack and defense, back spin has strong rotary force, fickle drop point, fast speed of forehand, early hitting point, good control of serve arc..." Dai Li watched a few lines and directly filtered out the advantages, because the description of his advantages was so long that it would take Dai Li several minutes to read them all.

Shortcomings... none! No shortcoming! There is no shortcoming! Dai Li was shocked again. It was the first time the detector had failed to detect the shortcoming of an athlete, which meant Anshan Wang was a perfect athlete.

This is the ability of the world’s top athletes! S-plus grade talent, near-perfect ability values, numerous advantages, but no disadvantages. Perfect! The athletes who can rule an age are like this!

Dai Li finally understood what the term "best athletes" meant.