The score for the 30th place finished was 270 points, which was the lowest a player could score if they did not want to be knocked out.
However, this score was disappointing for those who were taking a lot of chances. With the lowest standard being 270 points, it was thirty points higher than the passing score. This difference was an impossible obstacle to overcome for the coaches who were content with just a passing score.
Of course, there were some people who were still unwilling to give up, such as Xuexi Zhuang.
There must be more than one player who scored 270 points, and there must be players who scored the same number of points. Maybe 29th and 28th place also got 270 points. If Officer Wang scored 270 points with his extraordinary performance, I stand a chance. Xuexi Zhuang comforted himself, then began to pray for his trainee, Officer Wang, and wished that his performance be better.
On the stage, Political Instructor Zhao continued to read off the names. "29th place, Qi Liu, 270 points; 28th place, Shan Li, 270 points; 27th place, Tao Chen, 270 points…"
Political Instructor Zhao shouted out six names who had all scored 270 points, just as Xuexi Zhuang had expected. However, Officer Wang had not yet been mentioned by Political Instructor Zhao.
"24th place, Xiaowei Song, 275 points." A different score had finally been announced by Political Instructor Zhao. He went on to announce the scores of another three police officers, who had also gotten 275 points.
"20th place, Bin Zhang, 280 points."
"18th place, Baoyu Wang, 285 points."
The names were being shouted out one by one. Every announcement of a name triggered an excited look on the face of a coach.
Announcing the names one by one was quite torturous for the coaches. If the scores of all the players had been directly announced on a notice-board, the coaches of the players who had been knocked out (not included in the top thirty) would have been disappointed for a while after reading the announcement, but that's about it; afterwards, they would have gotten over it after coming to terms with the outcome. After all, failure was quite common for coaches.
But because the names were being announced one by one, it gave hope to the coaches, and filled their hearts with expectation. However, defeat after expectations was a harder pill to swallow psychologically.
Especially in the later stages, when there were only a few remaining spots, the atmosphere became more and more stressful; at the same time, the expectations in the hearts of the coaches were growing conversely. Therefore, the closer it got to the end of the announcements, the worse the atmosphere got. The expression of the coaches whose trainees had not yet been called was no longer solemn. Some were already red-faced, about to burst.
Although it was quite torturous, it seemed quite enjoyable for Political Instructor Zhao. Just like an anchorman, he slowed down the announcement and his pace of speech to build suspense.
Political Instructor Zhao was not psychopathic; he was only doing this out of professional habit. Psychological endurance was also a training aspect for the police. A police officer had to face life-threatening risks all the time, so their psychological qualities were quite important. Therefore, Political Instructor Zhao began using the training skills for psychological endurance unknowingly in his announcement, even though he was not aware that he was speaking to a bunch of sports coaches.
As the rankings got closer and closer to the top, the scores of the officers got better and better. There were now very few players who had gotten the same number of points. Among the top-ten players, each score was different. It was almost as if something as small as five points meant getting a place higher.
"Say Qingshan Li, come on, say Qingshan Li!" Coach Deng kept muttering silently.
It was time to announce the top three. The scores had reached 305 points. According to Coach Deng's estimation, the score of the officer that had been trained by him should be within this range.
"In 3rd place: Qingshan Li, 310 points," Political Instructor Zhao finally said aloud.
"Whew!" Coach Deng sighed in relief. The score had matched his estimation exactly.
Coach Deng looked at Coach Qiao, who was standing beside him. The name of the officer that had been trained by Coach Qiao had not been said yet.
"Officer Kong, don't let me down!" Coach Qiao also looked every nervous. There were only two places left, which meant only two more chances to place.
"2nd place, Kong Qingjun, 320 points!"
"Yes!" Coach Qiao released a sigh of relief immediately. He felt that this had been even more suspenseful and exciting than the national contests the team he coached had participated in. His chest had been filled with the pleasure of winning in the last minute.
Coach Deng was a little surprised. He had confronted Coach Qiao in the contest many times, with mixed results. But today, Coach Qiao was obviously better than him. The officer that had been trained by Coach Qiao had scored 10 points more than his own trainee.
"The total score for 2nd place is 320 points, which means the average score for each person is 80 points!"
"Awesome. This Coach Qiao is really something. In just ten days, he managed to help his trainee improve the average score of each subject to eighty points. "
"Stop your superfluous words! Coach Qiao is from a coaching family. He began taking part in the National Track and Field Grand Prix by coaching a team independently three years ago. He is the diamond of the Jiangdong Sports Team. He will definitely join the National Team in future. "
Although some people were praising Coach Qiao, a look of joy could not be found on his face.
320 points, yet only 2nd place? Besides Coach Deng, who else could be more capable than me in training? Coach Qiao looked around. There were still over 30 coaches whose trainees had not been called, so Coach Qiao could not figure out which coach had trained the champion.
Maybe the 1st place score is the same as mine, 320 points! Coach Qiao said silently to himself.
Only first place had yet to be announced. Among the over thirty coaches whose trainees had not been called, many people were hoping they could be the last one.
With their necks stretched out, and teeth and fists clenched, they were all looking at Political Instructor Zhao with eager eyes. Even the smallest motion of Political Instructor Zhao would put more pressure to them. It was similar to those that played the lottery; even if they knew they probably did not win, they could not help but hope that they had gotten lucky.
Of course, many coaches had already given up completely. The score of 320 points meant that the average score of each subject was eighty points, which was beyond their capabilities. They knew the police officers they had trained would never get such a good score.
Xuexi Zhuang was one of them. He was in a terrible mood, but seeing Dai Li cheered him up.
I was knocked out, but Dai Li was knocked out, too! A sense of relief overcame Xuexi Zhuang.
At that moment, Political Instructor Zhao read out the last name.
"In 1st place: Chong Lin, 400 points!"