Table tennis has an unrivalled position in the sports world, and its performance in all kinds of competitions has always been at the top. The 2022 Chengdu Team World Table Tennis Championships officially opened, and my country's table tennis team once again became the focus of attention, and Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, also personally attended the event to support.
China's table tennis has always been praised by the world, and the slogan of "Chinese table tennis, unparalleled in the world" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The quality of a table tennis team is inseparable from the dedication of the coach, and Liu Guoliang, as an excellent coach, has cultivated many outstanding athletes such as Zhang Jike and Ma Long, winning many heavy gold medals for the country and winning glory for the country.
However, many people seem to forget that Liu Guoliang's success is inseparable from one of his important mentors, Cai Zhenhua. Cai Zhenhua's reputation in the table tennis world is obvious to all, he is known as the "godfather of table tennis", and in the Olympic Games, he has produced 11 Olympic champions.
The iron-faced coach who is strict on the surface, Cai Zhenhua, is an extremely gentle husband behind him. Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, he is a young son who has not needed the care of his parents since he was a child, and spends his days fishing in the river or digging birds' eggs in the trees.
However, two unexpected events completely changed the fate of the Cai family and Cai Zhenhua. When his eldest sister was 11 years old, she was misdiagnosed with high fever by quacks due to smallpox, and her illness was delayed and eventually died.
Then, the second brother drowned while playing in the river with his friends, which plunged the Cai family into deep grief. However, the Cai family's parents did not indulge in grief, and they pinned their only hope on Cai Zhenhua, the only child.
In order to let Cai Zhenhua have a strong physique, his parents sent him to Wuxi Youth Sports School to learn to play table tennis when he was about 7 years old. Cai Zhenhua has shown a high talent for table tennis since he was a child, and after only four months of training at the sports school, he participated in the competition and won the junior championship of the Wuxi Youth Table Tennis Competition that year.
The coach took a fancy to Cai Zhenhua's talent at a glance, he was good at playing table tennis with his left hand, and the coach asked him to serve as a "guard player". However, after a few games, Cai Zhenhua is young and vigorous, and he wants to be the "main attacker", and he thinks that guarding the ball is not in line with his style.
In the post-match training, the young Cai Zhenhua fully demonstrated his superb attacking skills and rapid rhythm. The coach was intrigued by his performance and immediately pushed him onto the field as a main player.
Soon after, Cai Zhenhua successfully entered the provincial table tennis team with his skilled skills and tenacity, and was finally recommended to enter the national table tennis team.
Here, he uses the national team as his stage and constantly shows his talent. Although he didn't immediately make a name for himself in a talent-packed national team, he consistently excelled with his unique style and steady mentality.
Even in the face of strong opponents or weak situations, he can stay calm and stick to the steady output of basic skills.
In the team cooperation, Cai Zhenhua and his teammates achieved a 1+1>2 effect, helping them win the top few in many competitions, including the men's team championship and the men's doubles championship.
In 1983, the Swedish Post Office also issued Cai Zhenhua's competition as a commemorative stamp for the 37th World Table Tennis Championships, making him the first Chinese athlete to appear on a foreign stamp.
However, Cai Zhenhua's regret is that although he has participated in many tournaments, he has never won a singles title. Despite this, the world witnessed his outstanding achievements and superb table tennis skills in his youth, and many opponents were even deterred by it.
As he grew older, he was unable to push his limits, such as losing to veteran Guo Yuehua in a world table tennis competition.
He possessed table tennis skills that no one else could imitate, which led him to gradually transform from a player to a coach. In 1985, Cai Zhenhua, who was only 24 years old, accepted the job of a public aid coach and went to Italy to teach table tennis.
Some have questioned why he chose to give up his role as a player and become a coach instead. Perhaps, as a coach, you can better reveal your own shortcomings. At that time, Cai Zhenhua's skills were already quite good, but he couldn't break his limits and failed to win the men's singles championship.
After becoming a coach, Cai Zhenhua was able to come into contact with a variety of players as a way to make up for his shortcomings and potentially improve himself. Therefore, he decided to leave the table tennis table for a while and travel to Italy with his family.
There, he lived up to expectations and surprised Italy by training the Italian table tennis team to seventh place in the World Table Tennis Championships. Because this is an unprecedented outstanding performance of the Italian table tennis team, Cai Zhenhua is also respected by Italy as the "godfather of table tennis".
At this time, the Chinese table tennis team also needed a coach to guide the new players, so around 1889, Cai Zhenhua accepted the invitation of the national team and returned to the motherland from Italy with his family to become the main coach of the national team table tennis team.
He always insisted on not becoming an Italian citizen and was always ready to serve his country.
Before Cai Zhenhua joined the national team, the national team was looking for a coach who was both suitable and highly capable. At that time, the whole team felt like they were completing the task of training table tennis, and they just felt that the training of the day was completed.
Many of the team members will think about going to play in the evening, discussing which girl, or taking a few puffs in a corner after training. Although these behaviors are common among young people, after Cai Zhenhua came to the national team, he resolutely opposed this lazy attitude and implemented an "iron fist" policy.
Soon after Cai Zhenhua arrived, he began to patrol every night, often conducting surprise inspections to ensure that the team members went to bed on time and on time, had no violations of rules and disciplines, and strictly managed the housekeeping of the dormitory.
Although the coach's strictness made the players a little dissatisfied, their respect and even fear for him was overflowing. It is this kind of rigorous discipline that allows the national team players to strive for excellence and self-improvement in training, thereby promoting the improvement of overall performance.
Generations of table tennis players, including the now famous coach Liu Guoliang, have grown up under the careful guidance of Cai Zhenhua. His ability is evident.
When Cai Zhenhua was sent to Italy as a coach, he was not alone, and the people he loved accompanied him.
Although Cai Zhenhua is in the strange country of Italy, he has no relatives or friends, and the surrounding environment is completely different from the living environment he is familiar with. But his heart was full of warmth, and looking at the woman beside him, he recalled the scene of the first time they met.
At that time, he was still a young teenager, training in the national team, and he didn't think seriously about emotional matters. The coach saw that he was full of energy, tall and capable, and felt that he could not live without a partner.
Cai Zhenhua stood at the agreed place, and a beautiful girl appeared in front of him. She has a slender figure and a handsome face, and claims to be Huang Sheng, a theater actor of the Beijing Hongqi Yue Opera Troupe.
Huang Sheng began to learn Yue Opera at the age of eight, with a good figure and temperament, and a voice as beautiful as a lark. And when Cai Zhenhua saw Huang Sheng, it was difficult to calm down in his heart.
However, Huang Sheng didn't have much affection for Cai Zhenhua, a man with a rough appearance and straightforward speech. Cai Zhenhua's bold personality and serious look are not the type that Huang Sheng likes.
Under Huang Sheng's introduction, Cai Zhenhua became her boyfriend. Cai Zhenhua, who was not familiar with Huang Sheng at the beginning, in order to give her a good impression of himself, he racked his brains, kept asking for help from the introducer, and asked his friends how to pursue girls, and even deliberately learned about Huang Sheng's hobbies and living habits, and even knew what she liked to eat and what she didn't like to eat.
On the day of the date, Cai Zhenhua, who is usually very aggressive, deliberately put on hairspray, selected clothes, and dressed up carefully in order to show his best self.
1.Cai Zhenhua communicated better with Huang Sheng, looked for topics from books and friends, and arrived at the agreed place half an hour early to avoid being late. He also preferred to take the bus for more than half an hour to send Huang Sheng back to the dormitory, showing his carefulness and gentleness.
These actions made Huang Sheng gradually develop feelings for him, and finally the two came together. 2.During the relationship between Cai Zhenhua and Huang Sheng, Cai Zhenhua would always arrive at the agreed place half an hour in advance, in order to have more chat topics with Huang Sheng.
Moreover, he was willing to take the bus for more than half an hour to send Huang Sheng back to the dormitory. Huang Sheng was deeply moved by these details, and finally the two came together and got married in 1985, which was their happiest day.
A few months later, Cai Zhenhua was sent to Italy by the state, although the foreign country was full of unknowns and challenges, but with his wife Huang Sheng by his side, all the unaccustomed became sweet.
In Italy, in addition to teaching Italian players skills every day, he walks with his wife through scenic spots, listens to local operas, and tastes good food. As long as you have a lover by your side, life seems to be good.
However, when they first arrived in Italy, they experienced many inconveniences due to the language barrier. They work together during the day and learn Italian terms and table tennis-related terminology at night.
In order to help her husband better grasp the key points of learning and reduce his fatigue, Huang Sheng copied important common vocabulary and sentences in his notebook, and put aside the focus of learning, so that Cai Zhenhua could learn conveniently.
In just three months in Italy, Cai Zhenhua learned a variety of ways to communicate with people, his work efficiency was greatly improved, and his work problems were solved. However, physical problems followed, he suffered from a herniated disc in his waist, and he was so painful that he couldn't move, but fortunately he was able to ** with the careful care of his wife Huang Sheng.
In this foreign country, the two have no relatives to rely on, and Huang Sheng's companionship and support made Cai Zhenhua feel warm, and his gratitude to her arose spontaneously.
When Huang Sheng gave Cai Zhenhua an injection for the first time, he was so nervous that his palms were sweaty, he groped for a long time, and finally stabbed him hard, which made Cai Zhenhua scream in pain. After countless times of practice, Huang Sheng's technique became proficient, and Cai Zhenhua no longer screamed because of the injection.
This experience has become a beautiful memory in the hearts of the couple. Later, Cai Zhenhua was appointed as the coach of the national table tennis team and led the Chinese team to reverse the backward situation.
Huang Sheng was pregnant for several months, and for the sake of her husband and the motherland, she returned to China. They live in a small house of only 15 square meters, which bothers Huang Sheng and her husband Cai Zhenhua.
Looking at the soon-to-be-born child, they realize that this home cannot accommodate three people. Huang Sheng chose to return to Cai Zhenhua's hometown of Wuxi to give birth and confinement, and their son Cai Yida was born in Wuxi.
Although Cai Zhenhua is busy with work in the national team and cannot take care of his family, Huang Sheng, as the daughter-in-law of the Cai family, has always understood and supported him, allowing him to serve the country wholeheartedly.
Cai Zhenhua is grateful for Huang Sheng's dedication, but also feels guilty.
Huang Sheng was busy at home, but his body couldn't hold on. After hearing the news, Cai Zhenhua immediately rushed home from Beijing and stayed by her side like Huang Sheng had guarded him.
Seeing his wife's hard work, he was deeply heartbroken and decided to focus on his family. The national team also gradually improved its performance at this time. After work, he hardly arranges other activities, but goes to the supermarket with Huang Sheng to buy groceries, goes home to do housework, takes care of children and the elderly, and the neighbors praise him, calling him a good man and a model husband.
Even on Huang Sheng's birthday, he carefully prepared 33 carefully selected roses, because it happened to be Huang Sheng's 33rd birthday that year. His move shocked the relatives and friends who attended Huang Sheng's birthday, because this iron man who always said the same thing on the field and training ground now showed a tender side.
Cai Zhenhua: From an athlete to a coach, from the deputy director of the General Administration to the head of the football industry, he has always won glory for the country and won many awards, and has won the "National Sports Honor" medal issued by the National Sports Commission 10 times.
In 2022, he resigned as the "vice president of the Football Association" and enjoyed happy times with his wife and children. Now, his son Cai Yida has joined the showbiz and shown his unique acting skills.
Cai Zhenhua and his wife Huang Sheng strolled through the flowers, enjoyed the flowers and saw the scenery, and the family was warm and happy.