Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 40 I've never seen such an arrogant student in all these years.

Holy crap! Is this guy serious?
Faced with Gu Cheng's sudden initiative to volunteer, not only Jiang Bin and the others, but even Lao Zhou, who had proposed the challenge, looked at Gu Cheng with a strange gaze.

That confident demeanor momentarily stunned Old Zhou, leaving him momentarily speechless.

I've never seen such an arrogant student in all these years. I never expected to show him what I'm made of today.

The key question is, does he really intend to challenge Yu Haoyang?
No, didn't he hear me tell him about Yu Haoyang's situation?
The provincial games men's singles champion, a professional player active in ITF junior events, is not comparable to a group of students who can't even get into domestic professional competitions. The gap in strength between the two is enormous.

If we have to compare their strengths, if Yu Haoyang is a fierce tiger, then Jiang Bin and his students are no different from lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Otherwise, he wouldn't have changed his mind from "defeating" to "getting three points from Yu Haoyang".

This change was made not only to encourage students to challenge Yu Haoyang, but also because Yu Haoyang is too strong. It is unlikely that students like Jiang Bin can get even one or two points from Yu Haoyang, let alone three.

Old Zhou's lips twitched slightly, a rare occurrence, but when he looked at Gu Cheng, who had raised his right arm high, a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes. He coughed lightly, considered for a moment, and then said in a tone that seemed to dissuade him from speaking:

"What's your name? Where are you from? What grade are you in?"

"Gu Cheng, Yongcheng No.1 Middle School, Class 2, Grade 11".

Old Zhou smiled slightly: "You're quite good. Although you're a bit impulsive, you have more courage than others. I admire students like you very much. Regardless of whether you can win or not, at least you have the courage to try. However, Yu Haoyang's strength is beyond your reach."

"Of course, those who are recommended by the school to participate in the preliminary rounds must be quite strong, but let's forget about challenging Yu Haoyang."

"In that case, after the knockout stage, whether you make it or not, you can have a match with Yu Haoyang if you want."

"The same goes for the others, but there can't be too many people, three or five, otherwise he won't be able to handle it."

Old Zhou is usually a bit cold-blooded, but when faced with Gu Cheng, who dared to challenge Yu Haoyang, his heart softened.

In this situation, you must never discourage the child's enthusiasm and self-confidence.

These two factors are crucial for a tennis player's performance in a match.

Lacking self-confidence, one might not be able to utilize even 60-70% of their full potential. However, with both enthusiasm and self-confidence, one could potentially unleash 120% of their full potential.

If Gu Cheng were to lose the next elimination match because of his words, he would feel somewhat guilty.

In fact, to some extent, he actually hoped that Gu Cheng could make it into the starting lineup.

After learning Yu Haoyang's identity, everyone else turned to hiding, but Gu Cheng still dared to challenge Yu Haoyang, risking direct elimination, which is commendable in itself.

Such an interesting young person is a rare sight.

But in the eyes of Jiang Bin and his students, it was a different story.

He's such a simpleton. He blindly goes for things that others avoid like the plague. Isn't he stupid?
Jiang Bin looked at Gu Cheng, who was still raising his hand, and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up: "You're really brave. If you really win, come back and play a couple of balls with us!"

"Row!"

Seeing that twenty or thirty people were looking at him, Gu Cheng hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

Gu Cheng's serious expression left Jiang Bin and the others speechless. He was just joking, but Gu Cheng actually took it seriously.

Your opponent is Yu Haoyang, do you really think you can win?
Of course, this is not meant to mock. On the contrary, I think Gu Cheng is really brave, just like Lao Zhou said, they are not as brave as him.

Without saying anything more, Lao Zhou announced that the elimination rounds would begin immediately and then turned to look at Yu Haoyang. The two of them were talking quietly about something.

Everyone else headed towards the stadium, but Gu Cheng stayed behind and came up to Lao Zhou: "Coach, which stadium is my match against him on?"

"Huh?" Old Zhou turned around and saw that it was Gu Cheng. He immediately frowned and said, "I know you have all heard of Yu Haoyang, and many students are even his fans. If you really want to play against him, there is plenty of time after the knockout stage. There is no need to waste the knockout stage opportunity."

"Even if I let you fight him right now, and you lose and are eliminated, what's the point of you participating in the qualifiers?"

In Lao Zhou's eyes, Gu Cheng's insistence on challenging Yu Haoyang was probably provoked by Yu Haoyang's slightly sarcastic words. He acted impulsively and had the stubbornness to resist.

Commendable courage, and worthy of praise. Young tennis players should be so energetic and confident, daring to show their racket and fight any opponent, even if they lose the game, they should not lose face.

These are the qualities that an excellent tennis player should have.

But there's no need to throw away a hard-won opportunity just because of some stimuli.

"Coach, I'm serious."

Gu Cheng didn't say he was sure he could beat Yu Haoyang. The main reason was that the knockout stage would take seven or eight rounds to determine the starting positions. Rather than wasting time on that, it would be faster to challenge Yu Haoyang directly.

Old Zhou was speechless for a moment: "You... you just have to keep going until you hit a brick wall, right? I've seen fools before, but I've never seen a fool as stubborn as you. I've told you so many times, Yu Haoyang is much stronger than you... I won't say anything more, hurry up and go play in the elimination rounds, don't waste time."

After saying that, Lao Zhou looked at Yu Haoyang and said, "After the knockout stage, if you're free, have a match with Gu Cheng."

Yu Haoyang readily agreed: "Okay."

"Is that alright now?" Old Zhou looked at Gu Cheng helplessly.

Gu Cheng showed no sign of leaving, stating firmly, "I believe I can win."

Old Zhou rolled his eyes. "I still think I can beat Federer and Nadal."

At this point, Lao Zhou was too lazy to persuade him anymore. You can't reason with a suicidal person: "Since you insist on challenging Yu Haoyang, I agree. But let me make it clear beforehand, if you don't get three points from him, don't come crying to me when you're eliminated."

Gu Cheng nodded.

"In that case, get ready for outdoor court number 1."

Gu Cheng immediately carried his racket and headed towards court number 1.

As soon as Gu Cheng left, Lao Zhou looked at Yu Haoyang and said, "Well, since he insists on playing, why don't you play a couple of balls with him?"

After saying that, he added, "Don't hold back. Young people don't know their place. They always think they can be the king of the school and the same way outside. It's good to teach them a lesson. But just focus on playing basketball and don't say anything provocative."

"This kid's temperament is quite to my liking, it's just a pity he's a bit too old, otherwise if his skills were really good, I would like to recommend him to some domestic competitions."

Yu Haoyang laughed and said, "Don't worry, when have I ever gone easy on anyone! It's just that my mouth is hard to say, but I'll try to say as few provocative things as possible."

"You should know your own limits!"

"With your words, I'll feel free to improvise."

Yu Haoyang chuckled, then took the racket from another person and headed towards court number 1.

Looking at Yu Haoyang's arrogant walking posture, Lao Zhou sighed, wondering if he was doing the right thing.

He really liked that kid Gu Cheng; he was stubborn and wouldn't change his mind once he made up his mind.

But that doesn't mean you have to be completely inflexible!

(End of this chapter)