A few days later, the national table tennis coaching staff announced that Kong Linghui and seven others would participate in the men's singles competition of the 47th World Table Tennis Championships held in Paris. Ye Hao was on the list of seven, which made him ecstatic.

Ye Hao remembers that in Paris in 03, the Chinese table tennis team encountered new challenges after last year's Busan Asian Games, or it was more appropriate to frustrate. Although China won 4 gold medals in five individual competitions, it lost the heaviest men's singles championship. Now that he has the opportunity to participate in the competition, can he change the result of the Chinese team's loss of the men's singles championship?

Ye Hao's ability to be selected for the World Table Tennis Championships really surprised many people and attracted a lot of jealous eyes. You must know that he is only less than 14 years old this year, and he has just entered the national team for less than half a year, and he can participate in the top event in the field of table tennis, which can be described as a new record. However, Ye Hao was not too surprised, on the one hand, he was confident that he had this strength, and on the other hand, at the World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany, Tomokazu Kuramoto, who changed his court to become a Japanese, participated in the competition at the age of 14 and entered the top 8.

But now no one knows this, and Ye Hao has been criticized by a lot of people behind him.

"Why let a 14-year-old player compete, does he have that strength?"

"If you send me to fight, it will definitely be much stronger than sending Ye Hao, he may be able to travel in one round."

"Do you really think that if you win a national championship, you will be the first in the country?"

"I heard that there is also a 15-year-old girl in the women's team who is going to compete, it seems to be called Guo Yue."

"Even if the coach wants to train the newcomers, he can't afford to use such an important game to train the troops."

In addition to the incomprehension of the players, there is no shortage of opposition in the coaching staff.

"This time, Coach Cai is a little reckless, why did he send such a young player to participate, he doesn't seem to have much experience in foreign wars."

"Yes, it will be our country's face that will be lost at that time!"

"I heard that it was recommended by our Grand Slam coach, otherwise you would think that Coach Cai would agree."

Ye Hao chose to ignore these rumors, believing that time and facts will prove everything. Compared with the relaxed Ye Hao, his recommender Liu Guoliang is under a lot of pressure. Although he is a Grand Slam winner and has won numerous honors in his athlete career, after all, he has just retired to serve as a coach in national table tennis, and he has not yet proven himself in the new position and career of coaching. The outside world's doubts about Ye Hao are actually distrust of his own vision and choice, but he still believes in Ye Hao and believes that his choice is right.

"I'm waiting for you to unsheath your sword in Paris and show your edge!" Liu Guoliang looked at Ye Hao, who was sweating on the side of the table, and said silently in his heart.

The day after the list was announced, the seven selected for the World Table Tennis Championships began targeted special training. Before the start of training, Cai Ping Pong announced the news that Liu Guoliang would serve as Ye Hao's head coach. This news surprised everyone and felt expected.

In the two months that Ye Hao came to the first team, the team did not arrange a head coach for him, but only asked him to follow Coach Wu Jinping and train with Ma Lin and Wang Hao. Now that Ye Hao is about to go to the World Table Tennis Championships, the team finally arranged a coach for him, but to his surprise, it was Liu Guoliang who came to take him, which was also a surprise.

In fact, Liu Guoliang took the initiative to ask Cai Ping Pong to be Ye Hao's head coach, and the original candidate was not him. Because Liu Guoliang was born in a straight board, and Ye Hao is a horizontal shooting player, but this does not prevent the fat man who does not know how to play from coaching Ye Hao. As China's first table tennis Grand Slam, Liu Guoliang's skills, experience and philosophy are absolutely second to none, and it is only fitting to teach Ye Hao.

Liu Guoliang took the initiative to ask Ying to coach Ye Hao, not only for the sake of face, but also to avoid Ye Hao's poor performance at the World Table Tennis Championships and the loss of his face as a recommender. Because he is optimistic about Ye Hao's potential, he is confident that he will cultivate Ye Hao as the cornerstone of the new generation of national table tennis.

In this way, Ye Hao became Liu Guoliang's apprentice, and the fates of the two were more closely linked, one was prosperous and the other was lost.

The incident sparked a wave of discussion within the team.

Coaches.

"It seems that Guoliang is determined to support Ye Hao, and now he is directly in person to guide."

"I'm afraid that it will be self-defeating, and if he can't produce results in the World Table Tennis Championships at that time, then he Liu Guoliang will be embarrassed."

"Being a coach is not the same as being an athlete. Although he Liu Guoliang is an Olympic champion and a Grand Slam winner, he really teaches his apprentices, I'm afraid he ......"

Jock.

"This Ye Hao is really lucky, first he got the qualification for the World Table Tennis Championships, and now he has a Grand Slam winner as a coach. It's really a crow that flies on the branches and becomes a phoenix! ”

"Do you think Liu Guoliang will work when he comes out? In case Ye Hao is a dou who can't be helped, it's useless for anyone to go. ”

"Let's see what good results this pair of masters and apprentices can achieve at the World Table Tennis Championships."

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, even if it is within the united national table tennis, it cannot be the same voice. What's more, there is also competition between athletes and athletes, coaches and coaches, but as long as it is healthy competition and is conducive to the development and progress of the Chinese table tennis team, Cai Ping Pong does not mind, but will encourage and support it. So Cai Pingpong agreed to Liu Guoliang's invitation, as a coach's invitation, he also wanted to see if this proud disciple could give himself a satisfactory answer in his new position. This is about his development plan for the Chinese table tennis team in the next few years, and the national table tennis needs a new, young captain at the helm to keep the giant ship moving forward bravely and invincible.

A month has passed, and it is May 2003. The Chinese table tennis team is about to go to Paris to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships. Although Ye Hao has only trained under Liu Guoliang for less than a month, he has benefited a lot and feels that his strength has reached a new level. If the odds of him meeting Wang Liqin, Ma Lin and other main forces were less than two percent before, then now Ye Hao feels that he has three or four percent certainty to fight them, and the probability of winning has nearly doubled. Of course, this is just his own estimate, and his real strength will be tested on the field.

Paris in May is the best time of the year. The scenery is pleasant, the flowers are in full bloom, and on the streets and alleys, the men are graceful and the women are full of romance.

The Chinese table tennis team arrived here, but not for tourism. Ye Hao sat on the bus, looked out the window, and was deeply attracted. This is his second time abroad, the last time he went to Singapore to participate in the Asian Youth Championships, this time the feeling is completely different from the last time, more nervous and anticipating, he can't wait to start the game, he wants to conquer the game, conquer Paris!