Chapter 272: Practical Training
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At present, Sijie Yang was a well-known athlete in the country. He won the Asian Games champion at a very young age, and became the "Star of Hope" of domestic athletics.
Also, he had a Nobel Prize Winner father, so he was definitely a descendant of a noble family. Therefore, even ordinary people knew who Sijie Yang was, let alone these professional athletic coaches.
"Even Sijie Yang was trained by Dai Li? Does he really have something, or was it just luck that he was able to meet such outstanding athletes?"
"Now I understand why Dai Li has earned 122 points, he has several Asian Games champions as his students, so it's acceptable for him to have such a high grade!"
Some people present had now changed their tones. At the very beginning, everyone was doubting that Dai Li had some backup support, but now, many people had changed their minds.
Youdi Wei clenched his fists and teeth. His heart was filled with ambivalence, unwillingness, discomfort and a sense of astonishment. But the guy in front of the computer kept reading.
"Athlete name, Yue Zhao. Organization, National Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the Asian Games Men's 200m Sprint Champion!"
"Another Asian Games champion, Yue Zhao! 200m sprinter Yue Zhao was also trained by Dai Li? Then, does it mean that, the sprint championships in the Asian Games all belonged to Dai Li?!"
"No wonder he has 122 points, he got four Asian Games champions!"
"I'm convinced, totally II admire him now, from my heart. There is no problem at all for Dai Li to gain 122 points!"
"There is more!" the guy said, as he continued reading.
"Athlete name, Kenan Shen. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4×100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Jialiang Zhang. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4×100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Yihao Wu. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4×100m Relay Race Champion. Athlete name, Dong Qian. Organization, Hanbei Athletic Team. Achievements during training, the National Games 4×100m Relay Race Champion!"
"So the National Games Relay Race champion team was also trained by Dai Li?"
"I heard that 4×100m relay race was a great surprise. Our athletic team sent second-level athletes, but finally, they brought back a gold medal. So the miracle was made by Dai Li!"
"Relay Race is a group event, so the championship is worth more value than individual competitions."
"Well, 122 points, now I think this grade is pretty low, isn't it?"
"You are right, I also feel that 122 points is not enough for him."
At this moment, no one said anything about any "shady deal" any more, neither did they mention the idea that "the competition is just a show". Dai Li's achievements were extraordinary, and he was indeed worth that 122 points.
While seeing one championship after another, some people even felt numb.
Youdi Wei stood there, having completely lost his wits.
He used to be mostly satisfied with his achievement of having a National Games boxing champion, as he had trained that athlete to be on the top, which not only made him feel quite proud of himself, but also brought him a sense of priority in within the team. However, Dai Li had also trained the National Games champions, which was a whole team of champions.
Although the titles were the same, a group championship was always more valuable than individual championships. Therefore, Youdi Wei knew that the relay race gold medal was more "expensive" than a boxing gold medal, and was, therefore, a pretty heavy counterpoise.
"I'm falling more than seventy points behind in the first event, so what about the next events?! How could I win?" Youdi Wei kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
"Don't worry, this is just the first round. There will be two more rounds, in which the third event, Practical Training is the most crucial part. That's where we display our true abilities. Show me what you got!"
...
Although the first event was not an elimination, many coaches gave up right then and there. Those who hadn't reach 20 points would not be able to smile at last, even if they participated in the next selections, hence, they gave up early, in order to avoid embarrassment of earning too few points in the end.
Especially after Dai Li's astonishing 122 points came out, most people's confidences were terribly hurt. Some coaches didn't have even one national games champion, so they would rather quit voluntarily than endure humiliation from the coach who had trained several Asian Games champions. Therefore, at last, only seven people were left standing for the second selection.
The second round was an interview, where every coach entered into the meeting room to make a self-introduction, a presentation on their understandings of Ping-pong fitness training, and generally talked about their training methods.
In this part, every candidate earned similar points, and the grade gap was controlled, maintaining no more than 5 points between one and another.
Based on the "not to offend anyone" principle, the coaches in charge of scoring showed mercy to the candidates. For instance, the first candidate earned 90 points, the second had 88 points, and the third got 91 points. Hence, everyone's grade was close. Then, when counting final grades, the distinctions were even smaller.
Some even only offered the highest grade, in order to give everyone 100 points. When counting the final grades, the highest and lowest grades would be eliminated, which meant that those 100 points were useless. By doing it this way, the coach could build good relationships with the candidates, while not influencing the results of the selection.
So, to be honest, the second round interview was a mere formality. Such situations were commonly seen in governmental organizations. Nowadays, when competing for officers, interview were always there in the selections. But the interview was just a show, as the final position was predetermined by leaders, a process which actually had little to do with candidates' performances in the interview.
After the first two rounds had finished, people whose total grades were ranked as among the top three, could then be permitted to be in the last event, Practical Training. Dai Li had already taken the first place after the first round. After all, 122 points was 73 points higher than the second place Youdi Wei, which was an irreversible distance.
The other two places were obtained by Youdi Wei and Guang Wu. The temporary ping-pong fitness coach would be selected out of these three people.
...
Ping-Pong Team Training Center.
Dai Li, Youdi Wei, and Guang Wu stood in a line. The ping-pong team chief coach, Ping Wang, looked at the three with excitement.
Ping Wang, at this moment, was indeed delighted. The three remaining contenders in the competition were the best people in the athletic team. Each was capable to lead a team alone, all they all had outstanding achievements.
In normal daily life, they would never take the place of Old Ma, who was hurt in a car accident. But now, under the allure of the role of Deputy Director, the three gathered together.
"You three are talents!" Ping Wang grinned slyly, "And since you are talents, I can't use regular evaluations to assess your abilities. It's time for you to try my special offer..."