Table Tennis: Coach, Please Stand Behind Me One More Time

[For Intermediate and Veteran Readers] [Beginners Welcome] [Purely Satisfying] [No System] [One Female Lead] [Features Real-Life Figures] [Plot Twists]

At fourteen, Sun Xiaoyu did the most sensible and outrageous thing of his life: he blocked Ma Cheng, who had come to play an exhibition match at the school gym, dropped to his knees, and clung to his leg. "Master, take me on as an outer disciple!"

Maybe Ma Cheng was in a good mood that day, or maybe he simply thought the kid was weird. He casually said, "Sure," signed an autograph, and left.

And he was gone for seven years.

Sun Xiaoyu fought tooth and nail to make the reserve roster for the World Table Tennis Championships in London. Not for a gold medal, but for the chance to stand before that man.

But Ma Cheng had long since forgotten him.

At the London World Table Tennis Championships, China's men's team suffered shocking back-to-back losses to South Korea and Sweden in the group stage. The news set the internet ablaze. Captain "Big Head" led the team in a desperate fight, but was powerless to turn things around alone. The team's morale hit rock bottom.

Just as everyone thought the dynasty was about to collapse, two figures appeared in the arrivals hall at London's Heathrow Airport the next day, leaving everyone stunned: Ma Cheng and Xu Hui had paid for their own tickets and flown over.

The two men were nearly seventy combined and had forty-two world championship titles between them. They had no coaching credentials and no official invitation. They stayed in guesthouses, booked their own rooms, and reviewed tactics late into the night. At the gym, they rolled up their sleeves and became sparring partners for the starting players. When people accused them of seeking publicity, they took the criticism. When complaints were filed, they quietly retreated to the stands in the corner, putting on the national team uniform and guarding the team in silence.