The fishing ground I opened has become a national leisure destination

Chapter 535 The Strongest Enemy on the Road to Personal Ranking
In the semi-final bass fishing competition, Chen's Club got off to a good start, with Gong Lei taking the lead and setting the tone for the competition. Wang Hengchao also had a good start and maintained a stable advantage.

With Cui Liang and He Haibin providing crucial support, the club's performance has become more stable.

However, as the competition progressed, Chen ultimately failed to hold onto first place.

Before the first half was even over, ARK had already taken a strong lead, with Spider-Man and Deckard close behind, the gap between them very small, and it seemed like they could overtake at any moment.

Brands like Abu Ghazi that follow are not far behind and could be overtaken at any time, so Chen's Club still faces a very big challenge.

"Stay calm, maintain your rhythm. At least our current results are much better than in the knockout stage. If we can maintain our current advantage, the championship will definitely belong to us in the end."

During halftime, Chen Yuan encouraged everyone.

These results are excellent. If they can maintain this momentum, not only will the final championship definitely belong to Chen's Club, but their results in lure bass fishing will also attract attention.

However, in the second half, instead of overtaking ARK, they were almost overtaken by Spider-Man at the last minute, and ultimately only managed to finish third overall.

However, the overall results of the semi-finals are only for reference and not as a standard, since the semi-finals are group stages, and whether or not you advance depends on your group results.

Although Chen's Club is currently ranked second in the group, the other brand teams in the same group are performing even worse and are not likely to threaten their advancement.

"It's a bit of a shame to be defeated at the last minute, but making it into the top three is a big improvement compared to yesterday, and the gap between us and the champions and runners-up isn't that big, so there's still a chance to surpass them." After the match, Chen Yuan affirmed the results and the players.

"Thanks to Wang Heng's help this time, if it were me, I would probably still be fourth," He Haibin said with a slightly bitter smile.

In the knockout stage, He Haibin's bass fishing score ranked third in the club, which was a valid score. Wang Heng's score played a supporting role, but in the first round of the semi-finals, the results were exactly the opposite of what Wang Heng had achieved.

"You performed well in the semi-finals. Maintain your stability at the start, and you'll win both awards," Chen Yuan said with a smile, patting Wang Heng on the shoulder.

Although the tournament organizers did not keep track of individual rankings, CAA staff did. Wang Heng's individual ranking reached 18th in this tournament. Based on the elimination round results and his hand rod fishing performance, he should be ranked at least third.

“I knew your lure fishing skills would definitely translate into good results back in China. We’ll continue our review back at the hotel tonight. I believe you still have a lot of room for improvement,” Gong Lei said to Wang Heng with a smile.

Wang Heng nodded.

Seeing his individual results last night, he was determined to improve his ranking. After the first round of the semi-finals, he was able to improve even in the weakest bass fishing competition, which greatly boosted his confidence.

Even if Gong Lei didn't contact him, he would still contact Gong Lei to discuss lure fishing.

"Getting ready to go back to the hand rod fishing area, huh?"

After Deng Gang and his team packed up their equipment and finished their post-match debriefing, they headed towards Chen Yuan and his team.

Club members such as Hua Shi Lao Gui and Jia Dong Fishing Tackle looked relaxed, not putting too much effort into this round of the rematch, selectively giving up and focusing purely on enjoying the game.

Deng Gang and his team looked a bit serious. Their all-out effort in today's competition did have some effect, and their results were not bad, but they only moved up two places. If they want to compete in the main competition, they need to achieve better results in all four hand rod fishing events than in the elimination rounds.

"The event organizers are making arrangements; we all have to get back there tonight," Chen Yuan nodded.

A moment later, Chairman Wang came over, waved to Chen Yuan, and called out, "Little Chen, take the semi-final team back over there first and arrange for them to eat and rest."

"Okay," Chen Yuan nodded in response.

He then got into the car with members of the five brand teams.

……

Next, we returned to hand rod fishing, which is a strength of domestic athletes. The results achieved by the various brand teams were similar to those in the knockout stage.

Chen's Club faced challenges. The salmon and bream fishing competitions were relatively easy, but the crucian carp fishing competition was met with a fierce chase from ARK, and they narrowly won first place.

Especially for carp fishing.

Overseas, carp resources are also very abundant, and there are many carp fishing competitions, which have produced many carp fishing masters, posing a great challenge to Chen's Club.

ARK, in particular, saw their results fluctuate back and forth with Chen's Club, only managing a narrow victory thanks to Wang Heng's last-minute goal, ultimately securing the championship in the first round of the semi-finals with seven points.

Of course, the overall score is not important in the semi-final rules; as long as you can get the top two spots in your group, you can advance to the second round.

In addition, the semi-final hand rod fishing competition format is different from the elimination round and the main competition. The time of each competition has been adjusted, and the four competitions are arranged in one day, making the schedule very tight.

The first round of the semi-finals ended in the evening. Fortunately, the brand teams that were eliminated in the semi-finals did not have to participate in the second round of the semi-finals and could rest and wait for the ranking matches.

The sixteen who advanced rushed back to eat and rest, and the next day they continued the second round of the semi-finals, starting with hand rod fishing, and then headed to Paratka.

Having failed to advance from the semifinals to the main draw, he had to rush back to De Beer overnight to participate in the qualifying rounds. Not only was the journey arduous, but he also gained nothing, leaving him only with bitter regret.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have strategically given up the semi-finals and focused all my efforts on the ranking matches." After the second round of the semi-finals, Deng Gang shook his head with a wry smile and complained.

Tianyuan Club ultimately failed to qualify for the main tournament, and despite fighting hard in two consecutive semi-final matches, they were unfortunately eliminated.

"You should definitely give it your all, and you're not far from the main competition. You might be able to advance if you try again," Chen Yuan comforted him.

It wasn't exactly a consolation; he was telling the truth.

According to the 'snake-shaped ranking method', Tianyuan Club's group has the smallest gap, with the seventh and eighth teams and the ninth and fourteenth teams competing in the knockout stage.

Unlike those ranked lower who were grouped with Chen's Club and ARK, making a comeback extremely unlikely.

Tianyuan Club showed great tenacity, but ultimately it was a regrettable end. Just like the several duels between Deng Gang and Wang Heng, especially the club matches, they did have a great chance of winning.

"Prepare well for the ranking matches." President Wang was also there, and this was the only way he could offer comfort.

He hopes that Tianyuan Club and Chen's Club can both qualify for the main tournament. It would be a cause for celebration if both CAA clubs could qualify for the main tournament.

Unfortunately, Tianyuan's advancement was cut short, and there's nothing that can be done but to focus on the ranking matches.

"I think this competition format is a bit unfair."

Deng Gang said with a wry smile, "At least we made it to the top 16 and played an extra round of matches. The journey was exhausting and we still have to play a ranking match against the teams behind us. We have no advantage at all. On the contrary, they can wait for us to finish."

Deng Gang's point of view is not bad.

Advancing to the second round of the playoffs would have been an even better result, but instead they were eliminated in the main tournament and had to go back and play in the ranking matches with the teams that were eliminated in this round.

Instead of giving them preferential treatment, they were put in a competition where they were exhausted and had to wait for the right opportunity.

This is not an advantage, but a disadvantage.

If this is the case, many teams will probably consider whether to even try for the semifinals. If there's no hope of achieving better results, they might as well conserve their energy and focus on the ranking matches.

"Let's change our approach. If we make it to the second round of the semifinals, we'll have at least one more chance to compete in the main tournament compared to the teams that finished in the first round," Chairman Wang said with a smile.

After all, it is a comprehensive competition, and there will be a lot of chance in a single competition, giving athletes more opportunities to adjust and perform. Moreover, the gap between the top 16 should not be large, and the results selected from the two rounds of semi-finals are more convincing.

"Then we'll head back to De Beer's side first. The main competition is up to you guys. Good luck and win both titles." Deng Gang didn't complain too much and encouraged Wang Heng and the others.

The International Angling Federation (IAAF) favors these high-intensity competitions, which test athletes' perseverance and fishing strategies, and provide a more comprehensive assessment of their abilities.

There's nothing wrong with this competition format. Even if they had another chance, they would still fight hard in the semi-finals. It's just that they couldn't make a comeback.

"There's only one round left. We have to grit our teeth and give it our all to try and win the qualifying tournament." Wang Heng and his teammates were also encouraging Deng Gang and the others. The main tournament and the qualifying tournament were held simultaneously after the semi-finals.

The eight brand club teams that advanced to the main tournament will remain in Paratka to compete in the bass fishing competition, while the thirty-two teams in the qualifying rounds will first compete in the rod and hand rod competition.

The final competition will last for three days.

The main competition and qualifying rounds will be held on the second day at the International Fishing Competition venue. Due to the limited number of participating teams, fishing will be allowed at several competition ponds simultaneously.

The qualifying rounds will return to Paratka on the third day, while the main competition will conclude on the international stage.

The bass fishing qualifying rounds will start first, and afterwards they will rush back to the international arena to attend the awards ceremony.

Therefore, Deng Gang and his group had to return to Debil overnight, which is why they had complained a little earlier, feeling that the journey was too arduous.

"Xiao Chen, you take good care of the Chen Clan Club. There will be staff members here. I'll take the other teams to the ranking matches," Chairman Wang instructed Chen Yuan.

"Okay," Chen Yuan replied.

As Chairman Wang led Deng Gang and the others back to Debil, Chen Yuan led the club members and association staff back to the hotel.

After eating and washing up, the team gathered together to review and discuss tactics.

"Judging from the results of the first and second stages, as long as we perform consistently, the team championship is highly likely to be ours. Now it all comes down to the individual star award," Chen Yuan said near the end.

Instantly, all eyes turned to Wang Heng.

Tonight's debriefing and tactical discussion was basically aimed at Wang Heng, because he is the only one in the team with a chance to compete for the individual star championship.

"Based on the results of the second round of the semi-finals, Wang Ge only has one opponent in his quest for the individual award: Osterphinis from the ARK club," Chen Yuan said, showing the results sheet for analysis.

"This person is very strong."

When this person was mentioned, the club members all became serious.

Previously, their understanding of ARK was that it was a 3+3 team configuration, even at the beginning of the first bass fishing competition.

After all, Gong Lei knew the bass fishing masters in the ARK Club and was very familiar with those world-class champions. Moreover, the results in hand rod fishing were achieved by several other members.

Osterphinix is ​​a key player in ARK's hand rod fishing, and his strength is even above that of Wang Bin and He Haibin. His personal achievements are second only to Wang Heng.

Moreover, the Chen family club won several narrow victories, and even lost a single game, all thanks to this.

But who would have thought that this top master of hand rod fishing is also very skilled at lure fishing? Although his bass fishing results did not surpass those of the three world champions in his team, the gap was very small.

Overall, they are second only to a few world champions and Gong Lei and his peers. They have consistently maintained a top-ten ranking in the knockout and semi-final rounds for three consecutive matches.

This kind of performance definitely shows championship potential, and it wouldn't be surprising if it surpassed any of the previous winners.

"This guy, like Lao Wang, is aiming for the individual championship." Looking at the results sheet, Little Fish King had to admit that the other party did indeed have the strength to win the championship.

"I hadn't heard of this person in the fishing circles I'd been in a few years ago. I guess he switched from rod fishing to lure fishing and has grown up in the scene in recent years," Gong Lei said somewhat apologetically.

He knew the lure fishing circle best, but he failed to know Osterphinix's strength beforehand, which was equivalent to not knowing the enemy's strength before the battle.

And we should have thought of that earlier.

ARK Club focuses on bass fishing competitions, so how could a fisherman who becomes an ARK sponsored fisherman have a low level of lure fishing skills?

"It would be great if the individual star award were divided into separate categories, even if there were a distinction between hand rod fishing and lure fishing," Wang Bin remarked with a smile.

The statistics for rod fishing and lure fishing are kept separate, so that even the most skilled lure anglers have the motivation to compete for rankings, especially since lure fishing is the mainstream fishing method here.

This will attract more lure fishing experts to participate, increasing the attention and influence of the international fishing tackle brand league. Hand rod fishing will also allow participants to focus on their strengths and avoid being affected by other events.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Even if the prize money for individual star awards were divided into several categories, it would still be better than it is now.

"This suggestion can be kept, but it definitely can't be implemented in this competition." Chen Yuan was more in agreement with Wang Bin's suggestion.

Furthermore, Deng Gang felt that the competition format and schedule were somewhat unreasonable, and he believed that after the competition ended, the organizing committee and fishing associations from various countries and regions would definitely conduct a review.

We can suggest it to Chairman Wang at that time.

But there's nothing that can be changed right now.

"Play according to the rules."

Cui Liang patted Wang Heng on the shoulder, "According to our strategy, after we select the best fishing area for the competition tomorrow, we will give it to you. I believe you can do it."

"We've come this far, there's no turning back now, let's just go for it." Wang Heng laughed nonchalantly.

We didn't chat for very long.

After reviewing and discussing the tactics and determining the final goal, everyone had a clear understanding of the competition, so Chen Yuan told them to get some rest.

The next day.

As the final competition began, the bass fishing sub-venue attracted numerous media outlets, all focusing on the top eight brands and eagerly anticipating this final showdown.

For Lao Mi, of the five events in the Fishing Tackle Brand Super League, the one that truly attracts the most attention is lure bass fishing, and the most anticipated event is this final.

"This is a highly anticipated stage. If you play well in this game, you will become sports stars."

Chen Yuan gave a final pre-match pep talk, "I know there will definitely be pressure, but pressure can also be a driving force. Let's cast aside the pressure, unleash our full potential, and charge towards honor and prize money. Do you have the confidence?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, palm down.

"Have."

Wang Heng and the others reached out and placed their hands on Chen Yuan's hands.

"louder."

"Have confidence."

The voices of the group were loud and clear.

"come on."

"come on!"

Finally, amidst cheers of encouragement, Wang Heng and his group headed towards the draw area.

Chen Yuan and Wang Bin stayed behind.

Little Fish King will replace Wang Bin on the final stage of bass fishing.

(End of this chapter)