No Cup, Just Smash!

Ethan Walker used to play table tennis for the national team. Now he pushes a mop around a southern squad's facility and wants nothing more than that. He gives one piece of advice to a young player, the young player uses it at a national event, and suddenly people know who is holding the mop. They come looking for lessons. He runs. A friend sends him to Cloud Paddle Club, which is nearly finished as a going concern and happens to be hiring a head coach, and the director hands him the job on sight. The members do not accept it. Then the provincial selection is moved up, they are not ready, and they wash out of the first two rounds. Ethan's student Sun Yang wins his match, and Sun Yang's beaten opponent's coach, Pan Long, jumps him afterward. Ethan gets there first and puts the whole room on the floor without effort, which settles the question of the coaching job. He teaches them everything he knows and takes the club into the national north-south championship, where the northern squad pushes them to the edge. While everyone is still celebrating, he packs and goes without telling anyone.