The big devil in table tennis

Chapter 1347: Narrowing the Gap
"5:2"

The numbers on the scoreboard are like a sharp knife, piercing straight into the opponent's heart.

He raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, and felt that the lights of the entire gymnasium were pressing on him, dazzling and heavy.

At this moment, Jianhua shook his wrist, and the ping-pong ball bounced gently on the racket, making a crisp "tapping" sound.

“Come on!” A few sporadic voices of encouragement were heard from the audience, but they were quickly drowned out by the cheers of Jianhua supporters.

The opposing player gripped the racket tightly, his palms were covered in sweat, and the rubber handle became slippery and difficult to hold.

His breathing was rapid and irregular, and his chest seemed to be blocked by something.

"I can't go on like this." He said to himself, but his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

He had already lost the first two goals, and if he lost this one, the gap would widen.

Jianhua took a deep breath, leaned over slightly, and threw the ping-pong ball high up with his left hand.

At the moment the ball fell, he shook his wrist violently, and the racket cut through the surface of the ball at a tricky angle, making a crisp "click" sound.

The ping-pong ball, with a strong downward spin, drew a low arc and headed straight for the right corner of the opponent's table like an arrow.

The opponent's pupils suddenly contracted and he pushed the ground with his right foot, making a harsh sound as the sole of his shoe rubbed against the floor.

He barely managed to get there sideways, and hastily stretched out his racket just as the ball was about to bounce a second time.

Because the rotation was too strong, the ball bounced high and uncontrollably after hitting the racket, drawing a clear parabola.

"Chance ball!" Jianhua's eyes flashed, and he leaped up like a cheetah.

He tensed the muscles in his right arm and the racket drew a sharp arc in the air. With a loud "pop", the ping-pong ball tore through the air like a bullet and slammed heavily into the center of the opponent's table in a nearly straight trajectory, leaving a faint white mark on the wooden floor.

But the opponent did not give up. He clenched his teeth and veins bulged on his forehead.

At the critical moment, he miraculously took a half step back, and the racket drew a semicircle in front of him, picking up the ball that was about to fall to the ground at an almost impossible angle.

The ping-pong ball flew back with an irregular spin, dangling dangerously above the net, and the thrilling duel continued.

When Jianhua saw that his opponent had stubbornly saved this powerful smash, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but soon his fighting spirit was ignited with even greater intensity.

He quickly adjusted his stance, bent his knees slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and stared at the ping-pong ball floating in the air like a hawk.

The ball flew past the net, its trajectory was erratic and its landing point was difficult to predict.

Jianhua did not rush into the attack, but calmly stepped forward, gently lifted the racket, and swung the ball steadily back to the opponent's table.

This move seems light, but it actually contains a mystery. After passing the net, the ball falls rapidly, almost sticking to the edge of the net, leaving the opponent no chance to attack.

The other player obviously realized this as well. He frowned, quickly moved closer to the table, and with a deft flick of his wrist, he responded with a delicate short swing.

The ping-pong ball brushed past the net and bounced lightly, with almost no bounce on the table, as if it was stuck to the table.

The audience on the sidelines held their breath in concentration as the duel turned from a fierce offensive confrontation to a delicate battle of wits and courage on the stage.

Jianhua's mouth curled up slightly, and a sly look flashed in his eyes. He suddenly stepped forward, flicked the racket lightly, and made a fake move of picking up the ball, but at the moment of contact with the ball, he retracted his wrist and changed it to a very light "short suck".

As soon as the ball passed the net, it fell back gently like a fallen leaf. The opponent tried hard to save the ball and sent a very fast long ball straight to Jianhua's backhand corner.

Jianhua reacted very quickly, took a step sideways, and headed the ball back with a quick backhand.

However, the opponent had already buffered it. The moment the ball just passed the net, he moved like lightning, took a step forward, and hit a forehand shot in a loop. The ball whizzed in with a strong topspin, exploded a white mark on the table, and then quickly shot up!
Jianhua barely managed to return the ball with a backhand slice.

But this ball was returned a little high. The opponent seized the opportunity, jumped up without hesitation, poured all his strength into his right arm, and smashed it!

"Bang!" The ball hit the table like a cannonball. Jianhua flew to save the ball. His racket barely reached the ball, but the return ball flew high.

The opponent player showed no mercy and jumped up again. His second smash was even more fierce and the ball went straight into the dead corner!

5:3, he successfully scored the goal.

Then he wiped the sweat from his palms with his jersey, his eyes as sharp as an eagle.

He bent his body slightly and bounced the ball twice on the table. Suddenly, he flicked his wrist and sent a high-speed run ball straight to Jianhua's forehand corner!

Jianhua had predicted this and took a cross step to get into position, then hit a tricky diagonal loop with his forehand.

The ball had a strong side spin and exploded on the opponent's table before turning outward rapidly.

But the opponent seemed to be prepared. He flashed to the forehand position like a ghost and hit a "backhand ball" at the extreme position!
"Snap!" The ping-pong ball drew a strange zigzag line and flew out along the sideline.

Jianhua flew to save the ball, and his racket barely reached it at the last moment, but the return ball flew high.

The opponent seized the opportunity, pounced forward like a tiger, and poured all his strength into his right arm.

"Boom!" A thunderous smash!

Jianhua subconsciously raised his racket to block, and miraculously blocked the ball back!
The opponent obviously didn't expect that the ball could be saved, and he hurriedly backhanded the ball, and the ball just went over the net.

Jianhua seized this fleeting opportunity, took a step forward, flicked his wrist lightly, and performed a textbook short move!
The ping-pong ball brushed past the net and bounced lightly on the opponent's table.

Jianhua almost won the ball again. Then he changed the rhythm of his serve, turned the ball in his palm, and observed Jianhua's position with sharp eyes.

An unexpected backhand long ball was suddenly thrown, and the speed of the ball was so fast that it almost left an afterimage!
Jianhua's pupils shrank slightly, and relying on the muscle memory formed from years of training, he took a sideways step and reached the highest point of the ball's bounce.

"boom!"

A backhand burst straight line tore through the opponent's defense!

The opponent reacted quickly, diving to save the ball, and his racket miraculously lifted the ball just when it was almost touching the ground.

Jianhua had already predicted it, and with a small forehand loop, he accurately controlled the landing point and sent the ball to the opponent's chasing position.

Even though his opponent lost his balance, he still used the strength of his waist and abdomen to twist his body and hit an incredible backhand shot!

The audience stood up and applauded, and even the referee couldn't help but nod in praise.

Jianhua took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his eyelashes. He noticed that his opponent's breathing had become disordered and his hand holding the racket was shaking slightly. It was time.

It was a seemingly ordinary counter-spin shot, but at the moment of contact with the ball, the wrist secretly added force!

The opponent rushed forward desperately, but his racket could only watch helplessly as it passed over the ball.

"6:3!" The referee's voice resounded throughout the stadium.

At this moment, the coach of the opposing player called a timeout.

Jianhua put down his racket with a sense of relief and walked to the bench beside the court. His T-shirt was soaked and stuck to his back. Every step he took was like walking on cotton, weak and empty.

Jianhua took the iced mineral water handed to him by the coach and took a few gulps.

Cold water drops slid down his chin, gleaming faintly under the hot spotlight. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his chest still heaving violently, but his eyes became clearer.

"Listen," Coach Tianranwu lowered his voice, holding the tactical board to his mouth, "There's a gap in his forehand defense, so play more chasing balls from now on." His rough fingers quickly moved across the tactical board, "But remember, don't attack too hard, just play like you normally do in training."

Jianhua nodded, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the rubber of the racket. He could feel the handle of the racket had become slightly sticky due to sweat, just like the stalemate at the moment. The shouts from the stands seemed to be separated by a layer of frosted glass, becoming blurred and distant.

At the same time, in the opposing coaching booth, a middle-aged coach with a flat head was patting the player's shoulder. "Don't let his rhythm lead you!" He held up three fingers and said, "Remember three key points: The first shot should be fierce, the landing point should be deep, and the line should be changed frequently during the stalemate!" The athlete bit the energy gel and nodded, and the blue veins on his neck were clearly visible.

The referee's whistle cut through the noise.

Jianhua took a deep breath and squeezed the mineral water bottle, making it crackle.

As he bent down to tie his shoelaces, he caught a glimpse of his opponent doing high kicks on the sidelines, his sneakers making sharp sounds as they scraped against the floor.

The two people's eyes collided in the air, as if invisible sparks splashed out.

"Go on!" The referee's voice was like a sharp sword that cut through the heavy air.

Jianhua wiped his palms with a towel for the last time. As he walked towards the table, he heard the final instructions from Coach Ziranwu behind him: "Just treat it as an in-team practice match!"

The spotlights on the ceiling of the stadium stretched the two people's shadows very long, overlapping on the dark green table.

The shouts of a hundred thousand spectators turned into background noise at this moment, and the whole world seemed to be left with only this table and the ping-pong ball weighing less than 3 grams that was about to be thrown into the air.

Jianhua stood on the left side of the table, gently stroking the ping-pong ball with his fingers, his eyes focused and calm.

He suddenly raised his eyebrows and glanced at his opponent's position. The opponent was slightly back, obviously guarding against his powerful attack.

It's now!

He threw the ball up seemingly casually, his movements so light that it seemed like he was just doing a warm-up exercise.

But at the moment the racket touches the ball, the wrist shakes quickly at an extremely hidden angle.

The ping-pong ball flew towards the opponent's forehand position in an elegant arc with a seemingly ordinary topspin.

"Ordinary topspin?" A trace of doubt flashed through the opponent's mind, but he did not dare to be negligent and quickly turned sideways to prepare for an attack.

Just as the ball touched the table, a strange scene happened. The ball suddenly accelerated forward after bouncing, and the intensity of its rotation was far beyond expectations!

"Oops!" The opponent hastily changed his action, from attack to defense. The racket barely touched the bottom of the ball, and the return ball was high and floating. Jianhua had already predicted it, and the whole person jumped up like a cheetah, with his right arm stretched to the full like a bow.

"boom!"

A powerful smash hit the opponent's backhand corner!

The ping-pong ball drew a sharp arc above the table, and a look of determination flashed in the opponent's eyes.

I saw his wrist shook violently, and there was a crisp "bang" sound when the racket collided with the ping-pong ball. The sound was particularly harsh in the quiet venue.

The white ball spun across the net at an astonishing speed, leaving a blurry afterimage on the table.

This backhand quick attack came unexpectedly. Our player, who had originally had the advantage, hastily adjusted his pace, only to find that the ball suddenly and strangely changed its trajectory after touching the table. It turned out that the opponent applied a strong side spin when hitting the ball.

The ping-pong ball drew a curved line that violated common sense of physics as if under a spell. Jianhua's racket just brushed the edge of the ball but failed to intercept it successfully.

"6:4!" The referee's voice echoed in the court.

The audience burst into warm applause, and some people even stood up excitedly.

The opposing player clenched his fists and roared softly, beads of sweat running down his temples, glistening in the spotlight.

This beautiful reversal score not only recovered one point, but also changed the atmosphere of the entire game.

Behind the jumping numbers on the electronic scoreboard was a subtle change in the psychological game between the two players. The side that was so full of vigor just now unconsciously pursed its lips, while the fighting spirit was rekindled in the eyes of the lagging side.

On both sides of the table, two figures squatted slightly again, and their taut muscles were faintly visible through their sportswear.

The ping-pong ball was spinning gently in the opponent's palm. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze as sharp as an eagle, as if he was calculating the best time to attack.

The air in the venue seemed to freeze, and the audience held their breath, afraid of missing any details.

Suddenly, he shook his wrist, threw the ball high up, and served!

The ping-pong ball drew a low arc in the air, heading straight for our table with a strong downward spin.

Our player reacted very quickly. He took a step forward, tilted the racket, and gently rubbed the ball, then hit the ball back steadily.

The ball just passed the net, but the opponent had already predicted it and hit a forehand without hesitation!
"Bang!" The ping-pong ball bounced back like a bullet. Our player paused and tried to pull the ball back sideways, but the ball was spinning too strongly and the return ball was slightly too high.

There was a gleam of light in the opponent's eyes, and his whole body was suddenly released like a fully drawn bowstring.

He pushed the ground with his right foot and leaped into the air like a cheetah, and his racket drew a silver arc under the spotlight.

The strength of the whole body is transferred from the waist and abdomen to the arms, the upper arms drive the forearms, and the wrists press down hard at the last moment.

"boom!"

The ping-pong ball hit Jianhua's table like a cannonball, making a deafening bang.

The white sphere was almost flattened and deformed the moment it touched the table, and the friction between the rubber particles and the table produced tiny sparks.

Jianhua's pupils suddenly shrank, and he instinctively stepped back half a step to save the ball, but the ball bounced back at an almost right angle after touching the table, passing by his ears with a whistling sound!

"Whoosh-"

The ping-pong ball brushed past the side post of the net like lightning, hit the baffle hard and bounced high, finally rolling onto the floor outside the court, making a "tap, tap, tap" sound.

The whole action was so fast that even high-speed cameras could hardly capture the clear trajectory, and the audience erupted in a mixture of admiration and regret.

He looked up at the scoreboard, swallowed with his Adam's apple rolling. He never expected that the ping-pong ball would bounce out of the court like lightning, and the score difference would be narrowed again!

The coach on the sidelines couldn't help but stand up and loudly remind the players to adjust tactics; the shouts from the audience rose one after another, some people waved flags, and some clenched their fists nervously.

The opposing player wiped the sweat from his forehead, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and the fighting spirit in his eyes became more and more intense.

Jianhua took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing rhythm, and his eyes became firm again.

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