After this test match, Dai Li was really relieved of his worries once and for all.
In fact, as Li Dai said, before this, the main reason why athletes had opinions was that they believed that the relay team players were not as strong as themselves, and felt that they would definitely achieve better results if they replaced themselves.
Competitive sports are like this. Strength speaks for itself. Seeing that athletes who are worse than themselves can get more and better opportunities to compete, it is normal for athletes to feel unbalanced.
But in this game, Shen Kun, Zhu Yueyang and Chen Tingshan were defeated at the same time. This made everyone realize that the players on the relay team were not soft persimmons. Their speed was not inferior to the top players in the team, or even better.
Many people originally wanted to join the relay team, but after seeing the strength of Qian Dong and Wu Yihao, they all gave up the idea. If they are not as strong as others and continue to join in the relay team, they will only bring humiliation to themselves.
The strength shown by Qian Dong and Wu Yihao shocked many people, but after thinking about it carefully, some people realized that if they didn't have any hard skills in sports, how could they be ranked first in the qualifying competition? Appear. More than twenty teams signed up to participate in the qualifying competition, and being able to get first place is definitely not as simple as luck.
Li Dai's training level has also been recognized by everyone. Previously, Li Dai only played in the name of a national team, but there are still many coaches who think Li Dai is too young and actually look down on Li Dai in their hearts. After this incident, no one looked down on Dai Li anymore.
Qian Dong and Wu Yihao did not have such strong strength before. After following Li Dai for three months, they have become so powerful. This is obviously the credit of the coach. Other coaches do not have this ability to be able to do so in such a short period of time. , allowing Qian Dong and Wu Yihao to receive such a huge improvement.
Those who engage in sports have the right to speak only with results. This industry is actually a bit of a jungle. If you are strong enough and can win the championship, you will be sought after by everyone. If you don't have the strength, it will be difficult to gain everyone's respect. This is true for athletes and it is true for coaches.
Compared with a young coach who has won a championship, compared with an old coach who has not won a championship, the former is definitely more popular. Although coaching is also an industry that relies heavily on seniority, in fact, championships represent seniority.
For example, in the NBA, if a coach can win three or four championships, even if the coach is very young, no one will question his lack of experience, and people will still put his name in the list of famous coaches. among the ranks.
This is the case for Dai Li now. He has ability and achievements, and will naturally gain the respect of athletes and other coaches. Even coaches like Sha Baojun and Li Guodong, who have been targeting Li Dai in the past, have also restrained themselves. Don't dare to make any small moves again.
Dai Li's training was no longer disturbed by the outside world and became smooth sailing.
As time goes by, after entering late August, the National Games officially kicked off.
In fact, ordinary people don't pay much attention to the competitions in the National Games. Competitions in many sports are even regarded as novices pecking each other.
If sports competitions want to retain audiences, they still have to rely on spectatorship. Many sports fans have already been spoiled by high-level competitions, and naturally they find low-level competitions boring. If someone is used to eating Kobe beef, if he tries to eat ordinary beef, he will certainly find it tasteless.
This is the case with the National Games. Many events lack viewing value. For example, in track and field competitions, the athletes are really poor and cannot show good viewing value at all.
Another example is the basketball game. There are no foreign players in the National Games, and the level of confrontation in the game has been reduced a lot. If that team brings back a strong man who plays in the NBA, he will basically beat a team by one person, and it will take more points, rebounds and blocks. What's the matter, the data is soaring, but in a game where children are defeated, the audience will look drowsy.
Of course, there are some sports that are very enjoyable to watch, such as table tennis. There are too many good players in the country. When masters collide in sports, sparks will naturally fly. The games played in the National Games are much more beautiful than those in the World Championships.
…
Among the Jiangdong representative team, Cao Guangzhi, the coach in charge of the relay team, took the list of participating players just released by the competition and said: "No one who can enter the National Games main competition is an underdog, although we have the Asian Games champion Zhao Yue. It exists, but it cannot be taken lightly.”
Cao Guangzhi glanced at Zhao Yue and then said: "Looking at the grouping, we successfully avoided two very strong teams. The Huajing team and the Hong Kong Island team were both placed in Group B, so we won't be able to compete until the finals. We will encounter each other. Among us in the same group, Nanling team has Xie Jun and Shangchuan team has Wei Zitao, both of whom are among the best players in the national team."
"Coach, is the Hanbei team in the same group as us?" Zhao Yue suddenly asked.
"Let me see, that's right! The Hanbei team is in the same group as us. They seem to have advanced through qualifications. There must be some gaps in strength compared to us." Cao Guangzhi said.
"Coach, I think the Hanbei team may be very strong." Zhao Yue reminded.
"Oh?" Cao Guangzhi immediately glanced at the list of Hanbei team's contestants.
"Qian Dong, Wu Yihao, Zhang Jialiang, who are they? I have never heard of their names. Which of you has met them in the previous 100-meter and 200-meter preliminaries?" Cao Guangzhi asked.
Several athletes around him shook their heads.
"Coach, I remember that no athletes from the Hanbei team participated in the preliminary rounds of the 100 meters and 200 meters." Someone said.
"Did you get eliminated in the qualifying round?" Cao Guangzhi curled his lips disdainfully: "Don't worry too much about players who can't break through in this kind of qualifying round. As for the Hanbei team's fourth player Shen Kenan, I do know him."
"Coach, could it be that Shen Kenan? The one who won the national runner-up back then?" asked an old player.
"Yes, it must be that Shen Kenan. This name is not that popular, and no one will have the same name." Cao Guangzhi said.
"If it is really Shen Kenan, he must be in his thirties. I remember that he was already famous when I participated in the national competition for the first time, but I haven't heard anything about him in the past two years. I I thought he retired!" the veteran player explained.
"You're still running in your thirties? You've worked hard enough. At his age, we don't have to worry about him." Another player turned to Zhao Yue and said, "Zhao Yue, you guessed wrong this time. The Hanbei team is either a has-been veteran or an unknown person, how can they be so strong!"
"Because their coach is Coach Li!" Zhao Yue said solemnly.
"Coach Li? Which Coach Li? Was he recruited from the national team?" Cao Guangzhi asked.
"Coach Li Dai." Zhao Yue continued.
"You're just a substitute coach! Then there's nothing to worry about. See how serious you are." Cao Guangzhi said with a relaxed smile.
"It's not that 'generation'!" Zhao Yue knew that Cao Guangzhi had misunderstood it as "acting coach". He went on to explain: "The surname is Li, the first name is Dai, and the full name is Li Dai."
"Li Dai? I seem to have heard this name somewhere." Cao Guangzhi frowned and thought about it.
Zhao Yue went on to introduce: "Coach Li was my coach when I was in the national team. My ability to win the Asian Games was all due to Coach Li's special training."
Cao Guangzhi's expression also became serious. He was able to coach a coach who was considered an Asian champion. How could he be an ordinary person
Zhao Yue continued: "Also during the relay race of the Asian Games, Xie Jun and Wei Zitao were injured one after another, so we had to ask the long jump champion Fang Haiquan to make up the numbers. At that time, I was third and Fang Haiquan was fourth. It was Coach Li. It only took one day to develop a tacit understanding between Fang Haiquan and I."
"I also watched that game. The cooperation between you and Fang Haiquan was very tacit." When Cao Guangzhi said this, he shook his head violently: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. How can you cultivate that kind of talent in one day?" The level of understanding.”
"I don't believe it when you say it, but I have experienced it myself." Zhao Yue took a deep breath: "I think about it now, and I still find it unbelievable, but we really did it at that time."
"It's not that I don't believe you, I just think that the tacit understanding you showed during the game was not a makeshift combination." Cao Guangzhi explained.
"Later Coach Li also explained that because the four of us were trained by him, we were able to quickly develop a tacit understanding." Zhao Yue then explained: "Fang Haiquan came from the Hanbei Provincial Team. It is said that he was in the Provincial Youth Team The coach is Li Dai."
"Bringing out two Asian Games champions! After hearing what you said, I felt a little guilty!" Although Cao Guangzhi said this, he smiled on his face.
As a coach, Cao Guangzhi naturally cannot show timidity. His smile stabilized the morale of the army.
However, Zhao Yue smiled awkwardly and reminded in a low voice: "Coach, in fact Yang Sijie is also a disciple of Li Dai. During the Universiade, Yang Sijie defeated me and won the championship. His coach at the time was... "
"What? Trained to produce three Asian Games champions?" Cao Guangzhi exclaimed.
The Asian Games champion is not a Chinese cabbage, it is sold in every vegetable market. And there are only a few Asian Games champions in track and field events.
As for Li Dai, he suddenly had three. If the "Asian Games champion coach times three" could shine, he would probably have blinded Cao Guangzhi's alloy dog eyes.
This time, Cao Guangzhi really couldn't laugh anymore.
…
In the main stand, Zhao Shuren and Xue Li sat side by side.
"In this National Games, in the sprint event, although some athletes performed relatively well, there was no dark horse born that we hoped to see. Almost everything that should be won was won, and nothing that should not be won was lost. Win." Zhao Shuren concluded.
"I was also looking forward to a dark horse, but unfortunately it didn't appear." Xue Li continued: "In the sprint event, our next focus is to train Yang Sijie. I plan to give him more opportunities to compete and let him accumulate some competition experience. .”
Zhao Shuren nodded in agreement: "If there is an international competition, let him participate. We are not afraid of losing. Losing is also valuable experience. If you lose today, as long as you can win back tomorrow!"
While the two were talking, the starting gun sounded, and the preliminary race of the relay race had begun.
Zhao Shuren stopped talking and looked at the field. In a few breaths, the first handover of the baton had begun.
"Huh?" Zhao Shuren suddenly made a questioning voice, staring at the track intently.
When the baton was handed over for the second time, there was a clear gap between the players on the field.
At this time, Zhao Shu suddenly said: "How come the handover of the baton happened so fast? Once the baton was handed over, the gap immediately widened."
"Does it feel familiar?" Xue Li asked with a smile.
On the track, the third handover of the baton had begun, and at the same time, three words came out of Zhao Shuren's mouth: "Team Thailand!"
"You have a sharp eye." Xue Li gave a thumbs up and continued: "Yes, they are using the same tactics as the Thai team. Their athletes have no advantage in speed and are even faster than the Thai team. Some teams are slow, but through their cooperation during the handover, they save more time and gain an advantage."
"Which team is this?" Zhao Shuren asked immediately.
"Hanbei team." Xue Li added: "It should be the team trained by Li Dai! He is probably the only one who can use this method."
"Is that your favorite disciple?" Xue Li leaned on the chair and watched Qian Dong cross the finish line first, and then said: "This Li Daixing, in just a few months, he has mastered the Thai team's tactics. Learned everything.”
"Sooner or later, my disciple will be better than his master!" A happy smile appeared on Xue Li's face.
…
In the preliminary round of Group A, the Hanbei Province relay team advanced to the finals with first place. They also relied on this competition to enter the attention of other participating teams.
Strong teams have historically received more attention. For example, the Huajing team has three national players in their team, including Yang Sijie. Yang Sijie is the champion of the 100-meter dash at the Asian Games. With him in the team, the combat effectiveness of the team instantly improved to a higher level. Therefore, the Huajing team became the favorite to win the championship before the game even started.
Another example is the Hong Kong Island team. Due to its special status, the Hong Kong Island team can participate in some international competitions, which also gives them richer competition experience. Moreover, the strength of the Hong Kong Island team players is not weak. In some years, their best Good results are even better than the best results of the national team.
As for the Hanbei team, there are no big-name star athletes among the members, and there are even some names that no one has heard of, so before this, no one would care about the Hanbei team.
But after the preliminary round, the situation was different. Eight teams advanced to the finals, and none of them were weak. To be able to reach the finals means that they are extraordinary.
More than half of the athletes standing on the track are national team players, and there are also Asian champions like Yang Sijie and Zhao Yue. In comparison, the Hanbei team's lineup does seem a bit thin.
For example, before the game, players from other teams greeted each other. Some of them were teammates of the national team. Even if they did not join the national team, they had met many times in competitions and knew each other before.
Only the members of the Hanbei team stood there with big eyes open. They usually didn't even have many opportunities to participate in competitions, let alone get to know those high-level athletes. Surrounded by unfamiliar faces, they could only stand awkwardly.
However, Dai Li met many acquaintances, such as colleagues who had worked together in the national team, who also appeared on the sidelines of the game.
…
In the main grandstand, Xue Li looked at the track with interest.
"This is interesting. The athletes on the Hanbei team are obviously not good at personal ability, and they all rely on cooperation to improve their performance. This time we want to see whether speed can defeat cooperation, or whether cooperation can defeat speed."
As soon as Xue Li finished speaking, the gunshots of the competition rang out.