Dai Li did not expect that as a physical fitness coach, he would have the opportunity to follow the team to participate in competitions abroad.
This time it is the Austrian Table Tennis Open, which is also an important stop in a series of ITTF tours.
A few days before the start of the competition, there will be the U21 level youth competition, followed by the qualifying competition. Athletes who advance in the qualifying competition will participate in the three-day main competition together with those who have already qualified for the competition.
In Dai Li's view, the venue for this competition is not too big, and there are not many spectators around. There are many oriental faces in the stands. You can tell at a glance that they are overseas Chinese or local international students.
"It feels a bit deserted. I remember that among European countries, Austrians are more fond of table tennis, but the audience at the scene was not as large as I imagined. It seems that table tennis is still an unpopular sport abroad." Li Dai Thinking of this, he sighed in disappointment.
In his heart, Dai Li still hopes that table tennis can have a better popularity rate and that more people around the world can participate in this sport.
"What's wrong, why are you sighing?" Gu Zhizhong came over at some point.
"I just feel that there are a few people." Li Dai gestured to the surrounding stands with his eyes.
"Are you talking about the audience? There are not many people today." Gu Zhizhong changed his voice and continued; "But today is also a working day, so many Austrians should still be working. Austrians are relatively diligent in Europe, and in some places they are Much like Germans, they focus on their work. In addition, Austrian law allows for twelve hours of work a day. If this were placed in southern Europe, it would probably have caused countless strikes and protests."
"And it's only the beginning of the competition. No big-name athletes have yet to take the field. The players participating in the qualifying rounds are all unknown athletes and can't attract many viewers. When the main competition begins and the European athletes appear, There will be more spectators, and many Germans will come to watch the game."
"How many spectators will there be in open tournaments in other countries?" Dai Li then asked.
"It depends on the place, but no matter where we go, those Chinese and overseas Chinese will come to support us. They are our most loyal audience." Gu Zhizhong said while smiling towards the audience seat nearby, where he was sitting There were several oriental faces.
Then Gu Zhizhong asked: "Is this your first time playing abroad?"
Dai Li nodded: "Although it is not the first time to go abroad, it is really the first time to go abroad to play a game."
"How does it feel? Can you get used to it?" Gu Zhizhong asked next.
"It's better than I imagined. Before I came here, I thought that people who were unfamiliar with the place might encounter some difficulties, but the reality is much better than I imagined. The organizers made very thoughtful arrangements," Li Dai said.
"The Austrian Open has been held continuously for several years, and the organizer has sufficient experience." Gu Zhizhong said, with a hint of memory in his eyes, and then continued: "The Austrian Open was just held back then. At that time, I had not retired, but at that time, our country's athletes only participated in Asian tours and rarely participated in European tours. Even though I was already the world's number one at that time, I could only compete in World Championships and World Cups. Only in the big competition can I have the opportunity to compete in Europe.”
"To put it bluntly, it was because we didn't have enough funds at that time. Europe was too far away and we couldn't afford it, so we had to play games in Asia. Later, I became a coach and our funds gradually became richer. Start sending athletes to open competitions in Europe.”
"You think the organizers treat us very well now, but that was not the case a few years ago. We couldn't enjoy the treatment we do now, and the food and accommodation were far worse than they are now. I still remember going to Germany again. During the game, those Germans obviously speak English, but they are talking to you in German, and we don’t have enough German translators, so there are problems with communication, and we almost miss the game time.”
"At that time, we could clearly feel that the Europeans were trying to make things difficult for you. They felt that when you came to Europe to play on the tour, you came to compete with them for championships and prize money. But now, the Europeans will never do that. I think you should be able to feel that the organizer's attitude towards us is quite good, and they are very conscientious." Gu Zhizhong said, looked around, and asked: "Do you know why this is?"
"Because our team is strong?" Dai Li answered.
"Our national table tennis team has been so strong for decades. When we were not popular, we were number one in the world." Gu Zhizhong smiled and continued: "Look around, maybe you can find some answers."
Dai Li looked around, but didn't find anything different.
Gu Zhizhong continued to point out: "Look around at the places where advertisements can be posted."
At this moment, Dai Li suddenly realized.
"You see, these are all advertisements made by companies in our country, and they are all in Chinese." A trace of pride appeared on Gu Zhizhong's face, and he continued: "The current table tennis tour, no matter which country it is held in, The sponsor must be an enterprise from our country. From another perspective, if the enterprise from our country does not sponsor, their competition will probably not be held due to lack of funds!"
"The last thing the organizers dare not offend is the sponsors. Even the Europeans still think that we are here to win the championship, but they don't dare to embarrass us anymore. They will even deliberately try to please us because we can bring Sponsors.”
"This is actually a bit like drinking poison to quench thirst. Rejecting us is equivalent to rejecting sponsors, and then their games will not be able to continue; while embracing us, although the games can continue, their players will never taste the taste of championships. !”
When Gu Zhizhong said this, he turned around and said: "Actually, this is also a manifestation of the improvement of national strength. If you have never gone abroad to play games, you will definitely not feel this. I, who have often led teams to play abroad for more than ten years, feel very deeply. Deep. Sometimes, when you go abroad, you can feel that our country is becoming more and more powerful."
There was an air of pride in Gu Zhizhong's words.
…
Neither Gu Zhizhong nor Li Dai noticed that in the distance, two men were looking at them.
The two men were both around forty years old, with Oriental faces and wearing uniform sportswear. At a glance, they knew they were the coaches of a certain participating team.
If you look carefully, you can see a national flag on the chest of the clothes, with a red center and a white bottom.
They are Japanese team head coach Kimura Chuichi and deputy head coach Takeo Ikeda.
The Japanese table tennis team has extraordinary strength and is now the second-best team after the national table tennis team. It is also the biggest opponent of the national table tennis team in this competition.
At this time, Kimura Chuichi, the head coach of the Japanese team, had been staring at Gu Zhizhong coldly.
"Gu Zhizhong seems to be in a good mood." Kimura Nakaichi continued: "The young man next to him is their physical coach, right? I remember his name seems to be Li Dai."
The Japanese team has always done a good job in intelligence collection, and they have already found out Dai Li's identity.
Next to him, Takeo Ikeda nodded: "I really don't understand why they brought a physical coach out. What's the use of having a physical coach for this kind of game? And he's such a young physical coach."
"Ikeda-kun, don't underestimate the opponent just because he is young. Our team's Harimoto Hisao is only fifteen years old. Didn't he defeat an opponent much older than him?" Kimura Nakaichi said.
"That's what Coach Kimura said." Takeo Ikeda nodded obediently, and then said; "But Harimoto Jiuwang's opponent in the next game is Cui Pengfei. It seems that he will stop in the quarterfinals."
"After all, Cui Pengfei was once the number one player in the world. Although his status has declined in the past two years due to injuries, it is undeniable that he is still one of the top five players in the world. With the current Zhang Benjun , is indeed not Cui Pengfei’s opponent.”
Kimura turned his head and continued: "But the future belongs to us, to Zhang Benjun. He is only fifteen years old this year, and his career has just begun. When Zhang Benjun's strength reaches its peak, Cui Pengfei, Wang Anshan, they are all old! What we have to do now is to make Zhang Benjun mature as soon as possible."
Kimura Chuichi's eyes flashed with heat, and he continued: "In our domestic competitions, Zhang Benjun has defeated many opponents, including the strongest Hideyoshi Hasegawa in our team, and in international competitions, Zhang Benjun has defeated several well-known European players, but he has never competed with the top three athletes in the world."
"So in tomorrow's game, Cui Pengfei is a good whetstone. I don't expect Zhang Benjun to win, but I hope he can win one or two games. Get one or two small games from Cui Pengfei. For Zhang Benjun, it will be a confidence boost! It will make him feel that the world's top table tennis players are not insurmountable."
Takeda Ikeda nodded immediately: "This is indeed a rare experience for Zhang Benjun."
Kimura seemed a little excited when he spoke, and he continued: "We have been studying Cui Pengfei for six or seven years. We have already known his characteristics. The most important thing is that he is often slow to warm up in games. , he would often lose the first game.”
"But Zhang Benjun is just the opposite. He is the kind of player who can get into the state quickly after the game starts. Therefore, it is not very difficult for Zhang Benjun to win one or two games from Cui Pengfei." Kimura Chuichi smiled: "If Zhang Benjun met Wang Anshan or Zuo Xiangxian, I would definitely not set this goal for him, but his opponent is Cui Pengfei, who is slow to warm up. He is destined to become a step to help Zhang Benjun grow! "