Chapter 10 The world's top ten superstars, Li Ying's luck in the draw On the international flight, Li Ying was just about to lie down and take a rest. Suddenly, there was a tap on the arm. "Hello, Li Ying!" Li Ying opened his eyes. For a moment, they all felt a little dazed. She has an exquisite oval face, fair skin as soft as mutton-fat jade, bright eyes like stars, and her eyes are full of agility and intelligence. Her high nose bridge and pink lips form an intoxicating picture. She was tall and slender, with smooth lines, and exuded an elegant temperament in every gesture. Her long, smooth hair fell on her shoulders like a waterfall, emitting a charming fragrance as it swayed gently. Li Ying felt very familiar at first, as if he had seen it somewhere. But at the first moment, it was as if he was so amazed at the other person's charm that he didn't think about it at all.
Seeing Li Ying looking a little overwhelmed, Wang Xianlan smiled and said, "My name is Wang Xianlan, from the first female team of the national table tennis team!" Li Ying then recalled. "The goddess of national table tennis!" Li Ying blurted out. She is the most beautiful member of the female team, with a face and figure that is no less beautiful than any other female star in the country. After hearing this, Wang Xianlan felt a little shy. “How can she be called a goddess!” This was the first time in Wang Xianlan’s life that someone said she was the goddess of the national table tennis team in front of her. Although she had also heard people calling her that on the Internet. "Are you also going to participate in the open tournament?" Li Ying asked curiously. "Well, I'm relatively young in the team, so at this stage I'll participate in more open tournaments to hone my skills." Wang Xianlan's seat was right next to Li Ying. After sitting down, she didn't have the demeanor of a high-class goddess of the national table tennis team at all, and she started chattering with Li Ying. "I'm young, okay!" Li Ying said with a smile. "Yes, I'm older than you. Do you want me to call you sister?" Li Ying was suddenly speechless. He originally thought that the national table tennis goddess Wang Xianlan should be the kind of cold and aloof goddess, but he didn't expect her to be like this, and the goddess filter was immediately shattered. However, it is also nice to have someone to chat with during the lonely journey. Li Ying and coach Wu Weijing arrived in Belgrade and stayed in the hotel booked in advance by the International Table Tennis Federation. To adjust to the jet lag first, Li Ying stayed in the same room with coach Wu Weijin. On the 21st, the day before the Serbia Open starts. Accompanied by Wu Weijin, Li Ying came to the competition venue to adapt to the training. "Coach, doesn't this open tournament have four events: men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, and women's doubles? Why didn't anyone come for men's doubles and women's doubles?" Li Ying asked in confusion.
"The Olympics just ended, and we still have the Table Tennis Super League to play in the country, not to mention the national championships that are about to be held. Open tournaments like this are not as important as other large-scale open tournaments in the country. What's more, if all the main players are sent to participate in all the open tournaments, firstly, the main players will not be able to bear it, and secondly, the appearance of eating is too ugly, which is not good!" Wu Weijing said with a smile. "But why are the foreign teams sending out all their main players?" Li Ying pointed to the big screen, which listed the 64 men's singles players who were about to be drawn. Except for Xia Guo, almost all the stronger foreign teams had sent out their star players. Thiem, who just won the World Cup runner-up, is also participating in this open tournament. In addition, there is another star of the German national team, Dimitri. In the German national team, Thiem and Dimitri are known as the twin stars, and they are both very strong and are currently ranked in the top ten in the world. "Indeed, the world's top ten players, including Swedish team's Truss, French team's Felix, Korean team's Park Kwang-ho, and Ryu-in country's Ishii Taishu, are all here!" Wu Weijin only noticed it now, as he had not paid much attention to the ITTF's information about this open tournament. Among them, Park Kwang-ho was the men's singles champion of the 04 Olympic Games. Defeated Monri of the Xia national team. "Aying, this open tournament is full of top players, which will be the best training for you!" Wu Weijin said with a smile. "Yes, I'm looking forward to fighting with them!" Li Ying was fearless. There is a saying that goes 'God rewards hard work'. Every effort and every drop of sweat will eventually turn into harvest. There is also the 'Fantasy Space'. No matter which opponent you face in the draw, you can fight in the fantasy space in advance. You will definitely know yourself and the enemy, and thus win every battle. In the afternoon, the drawing of lots began. The draw for the Open is divided into the upper and lower half, which are then further divided into four half-halfs. Li Ying, sitting in the 1/4 division, is in the upper half. Among them, the newly crowned World Cup runner-up Thiem is in the lower half. This means that if Li Ying wants to meet Thiem and avenge Liang Long, he has to at least reach the finals. However, the upper half is full of experts. Truus of the Swedish team, Felix of the French team, Park Kwang-ho of Korea, and Yasuki Ishii of Ryuo Country are also in the upper half. In addition, the match schedule for the top 64 to top 32 was released immediately. Li Ying's opponent is Park Kwang-ho from Goryeo, the man who defeated Monli four years ago and won the Olympic men's singles gold medal. Li Ying found this drawing of lots very interesting. And at this moment, when Wu Weijin saw the complete battle schedule, a hint of anger flashed in the depths of his eyes. "Li Ying, this order of matches is extremely disadvantageous to you!" Wu Weijing is a senior coach who saw through the ITTF's purpose at a glance. "That's nothing. I'll just face Yasuki Ishii in the 32-to-16 round, Felix in the 16-to-8 round, and Truth in the 8-to-4 round!" This is exactly what Li Ying has been dreaming of, because only by playing against these superstars ranked in the top ten in the world can one's skills be greatly improved. "Hey, now that the draw has already been made, there's no point in thinking about anything else. Let's get some rest tonight and prepare for tomorrow!" At night, Li Ying rested. But Wu Weijin hadn't slept yet and called home. "Old Wu, what happened?" The men's team head coach Dong Yaobang suddenly received a call and his heart trembled.
"It's nothing, it's just that the draw this time is very interesting!" Wu Weijing told Dong Yaobang about Li Ying's luck in the draw. After listening to this, Dong Yaobang sneered and said, "It seems that the ITTF is still determined to suppress our Xia country's national table tennis. Moreover, they want to destroy our Xia country's young generation of table tennis. This time they even arranged so many superstars to stop Li Ying. It seems that Li Ying has been exposed to the eyes of the ITTF in the previous Table Tennis Super League!" "What should we do then?" Wu Weijin asked anxiously after hearing this. "What should we do? Just let it go. It just so happens that this move by the ITTF can help our national table tennis team assess Li Ying's quality. After all, he is only 16 years old and has no previous results in major competitions. If Li Ying can get to the top of this open tournament, it means that his strength is no less than that of the dragon, phoenix and turtle. His future potential is terrifying." Dong Yaobang didn't care, as it was just an open tournament. So what if Li Ying didn’t win the championship. "That's true. If Li Ying can win the championship, it means he is qualified to challenge the core force of Qianlima. This is earlier than the dragon, phoenix and turtle, and more impactful!" Wu Weijin said with a smile. "You have to record all the videos of Li Ying's competition and bring them back to China." Dong Yaobang finally instructed. "I know. I won't bother you anymore." (End of this chapter)