Table tennis: Swinging the racket billions of times, achieving a grand slam

Chapter 155: Strategically Despise, Tactically Respect

"Felix?"

Chen Jin was stunned at the time, "We met so soon?"

Before that, he was indeed looking forward to playing against Felix in this Grand Slam.

But I never expected that I would encounter it in the first round.

"This lot is..."

Looking at Sun Yingsha, who was on the stage as the guest of the men's singles draw, Chen Jin smiled bitterly in his heart, "In such a big world, could such a coincidence really happen?"

Not only Chen Jin.

Ma Long and others were all a little surprised by the result of the draw.

At the same time, they looked at Chen Jin with a smile on their face.

"I met LeBron in the first round."

Liang Jingkun smiled and said, "Chen Jin, congratulations on your dream coming true."

"Are you surprised? Are you surprised? Are you happy?"

Chen Jin spread his hands and said, "It's a surprise, but not surprising. It's unexpected but I'm happy."

Good food is never too late, so why should it be too early?
The reason why he looked surprised was not because he was afraid, but because he was quite surprised.

"You're so lucky, you can even buy a lottery ticket."

Ma Taki laughed.

Chen Jin's performance in the Macau Championship was amazing enough.

Plus, he's a newcomer and has never played against anyone on the field.

Ma Long was excited to see the prey and wanted to take advantage of this Grand Slam opportunity to have a good fight with Chen Jin.

After all, even he himself didn't know whether he could participate in such an arena in the future.

But after the draw, the two were divided into two different halves.

Unless they meet in the finals, there is no way they will meet.

however.

There are many strong competitors in this competition.

Ma Taki himself could not predict how far he could go.

The only thing we can do now is to give it our all.

Of course, his efforts alone are not enough, it also depends on Chen Jin’s performance.

"Whether it is a miracle or just a flash in the pan, it all depends on this Grand Slam."

Ma Long looked at Chen Jin and thought to himself.

Ever since winning the championship in Macau, discussions about Chen Jin have never stopped online.

There is no lack of praise, but also a lot of doubts.

I think there are only two reasons why Chen Jin was able to win the Macau Championship.

First, Wang Chuqin won two gold medals in a row at the Olympics and was exhausted both physically and mentally. In addition, he participated in various activities and had no time to resume training, which allowed Chen Jin to win by chance.

In a nutshell, Chen Jinsheng is not a fair person.

Second, Chen Jin is a newcomer, and other players are not yet accustomed to his playing style. Once his style is thoroughly studied, he will quickly become lost in the crowd.

These doubts are not without reason.

If Chen Jin wants to gain a firm foothold in the national table tennis team and become an absolute main force, he must prove his strength with more victories.

The first round match, the battle with Felix, is crucial.

Felix won the bronze medal in the men's singles at the Paris Olympics. His momentum is strong and his confidence is soaring.

What's more, with Felix's strength, it is not easy to deal with him.

Many main players of the Chinese national table tennis team have been defeated by him.

For Chen Jin, defeating such a strong opponent will be quite a challenge and it will definitely be a tough battle.

At the scene.

Another party involved was also surprised.

——Felix Lebrun.

Although he did not participate in the last Macau Championship, he always paid attention to it.

Without a doubt, the most eye-catching dark horse in this game is Chen Jin.

An unknown newcomer appeared out of nowhere like a god descending from heaven.

He defeated the world's number one Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong who recently won several WTT series championships in a row, and former European Championship champion Qiu Dang.

In particular, the battle between Chen Jin and Qiu Dang for the championship and runner-up, a battle between the two straight players, was particularly impressive.

Both use straight blades and are played by European players.

Felix and Qiu Dang have faced each other many times in European competitions, with both sides winning and losing.

Of course, the strength of the Qiu Party is very clear.

It is normal for Wang Chuqin to lose unexpectedly to a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old.

After all, he had experienced much bigger shocks, so why would he care about such a small one?

But what Felix didn't expect was that Qiu Dang also lost to Chen Jin.

And it still failed miserably.

In the four final games, Qiu Dang was suppressed the entire time and had no power to fight back.

It can be seen how terrifying Chen Jin’s strength is.

more importantly.

Like him, Chen Jin also has a straight board.

In this era where horizontal blades are the mainstream, straight-blade players are scarce.

Moreover, with Felix's current world ranking, he is known as the "world's number one straight board player".

Although Chen Jin's strong rise is still short, it has had a huge impact on him, the "world's number one straight board."

In this Grand Slam, his battle with Chen Jin for the double straight will definitely be seen as a battle for the "world's number one straight board".

"Chen Jin?"

Felix didn't understand Chinese, but the pronunciation alone reminded him of someone.

In European table tennis, horizontal rackets are the mainstream.

But Felix went the other way and chose a straight board.

It’s because of a Chinese player named “Chen Jian”.

Chen Jian was also a national player and studied under Xiao Zhan. He and Zhang Jike are brothers in the same school and both use the traditional straight-blade playing style.

Later, with the rise of Wang Hao, he switched to practicing horizontal striking.

He once joined the French Table Tennis Club and happened to be a teammate of Felix's father.

Because of his father, Felix has been going in and out of clubs since he was a child. He witnessed Chen Jian's straight-blade playing style and was deeply influenced by it.

So, choose a straight board.

Unexpectedly, after many years, he met a straight-blade player from the Chinese team named "Chen Jin" on the court again.

"Is it some special fate?"

Felix thought.

I don't know.

Just as the draw results for "Chen Jin's first round match against Felix" came out.

The entry "WTT Grand Slam Chen Jin vs. World No. 1 Straight Board" appeared on the hot search list.

It soon attracted a lot of attention.

"Fuck, is our new generation of straight blades finally going to go head-to-head with the current world No. 1 straight blade?"

"Come on, Chen Jin! Beat Felix! Regain the title of 'World's No. 1 Straight Board' for the Chinese national table tennis team!"

"As an amateur straight-blade fan, I have to support this."

"Hengzhi Shuangxiu is here to support Chen Jin."

"We are a family, Chen Jin is brave and fights hard~ Oli Ge!"

"Chen Jinxiong rises and restores the glory of the Chinese table tennis team's straight blade."

……

"Felix just won the Olympic men's singles bronze medal. Whether in terms of talent, playing style, or mentality, he is at his peak. There is no way Chen Jin can be Felix's opponent."

"Just because you won a few games by chance, you think you can beat the Olympic men's singles bronze medalist. It's a joke."

"I'll leave it to Big Head Teacher, who is guarding the upper half, to defeat Felix. As for Chen Jin, if he can beat me, I'll eat shit live on TV."

"Let me put it this way, the orthodoxy of straight blades is in Europe, and the straight blades of China's table tennis team are just a flash in the pan. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see."

"You bullied our leader and didn't get enough rest. You won by chance once, so you jumped so high? Come on, Chu Qin, you must get revenge!"

……

For a while.

The discussion heat suddenly soared.

Fans, haters, and Zuwangdao from all walks of life came out together.

The entry, which was originally ranked 45th on the hot search list, was pushed to the top of the hot search list in just ten minutes.

The topic has become hot even before the game has started.

At this time, the men's singles draw is over.

Apart from the eight players in the qualifiers, the matchup situation is basically clear.

Afterwards, there was a draw for the doubles event.

However, in this Grand Slam, Chen Jin only participated in singles.

After the draw.

The Chinese national table tennis team collectively stayed at the Shougang Park Hotel.

Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang live in the same room.

The hotel is very close to the stadium, only a ten-minute walk away, which is very convenient.

7:30, evening training.

The training venue is the figure skating rink in Shougang Park.

In order to host this Grand Slam, the organizers have already made renovations.

The Shougang Ice Hockey Arena was converted into the Baji Arena to host the men's and women's singles, mixed doubles semi-finals, and five individual finals.

The short track speed skating hall will be converted into Hall No. 2 to hold the qualifying rounds and other competitions.

The event training hall is the figure skating venue during the Winter Olympics.

There are competition tables, warm-up tables, physiotherapy rooms, and fitness areas.

In the huge training hall, athletes from various countries are actively preparing for the competition, and the intense and chaotic sounds of hitting the balls are endless.

There were also strange sounds of "hachi, hachi" mixed in.

No need to look around, just hear the sound and you will find Ocha.

Just as Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang were training seriously.

Sudden.

Wang Hao walked over with a smile and stopped the two from training.

"Chen Jin."

Wang Hao waved and said, "Channel C wants to interview you."

"Channel C? Interview me?"

Chen Jin was slightly stunned.

I turned my head and looked, and saw reporters and cameramen from Channel C not far away.

Liu Guoliang is being interviewed.

"I'm a newcomer, why are you interviewing me?"

Chen Jin asked curiously, "Aren't there Team Long and Brother Tou over there?"

"The reporter specifically mentioned your name."

Wang Hao smiled and said, "Wipe your sweat, be generous, don't be afraid."

Then he led Chen Jin and walked around outside to avoid stealing Liu Guoliang's spotlight.

"Chen Jin, come here."

Liu Guoliang smiled and waved his hand, facing the camera and said, "Chen Jin is a good seedling selected by our national table tennis team through the selection competition and team building."

“Although he is only 16 years old, he won the Lima Regular Challenge and Macau Championships in less than a month.”

"More importantly, Chen Jin is a rare straight-blade player."

"Table tennis fans should all know that in this era of big balls, it's not easy for a straight-blade to come out on top."

"However, I boldly predict that Chen Jin will become another flag bearer of the Chinese national table tennis straight-blade following outstanding straight-blade players such as Ma Lin, Wang Hao and Xu Xin!"

Although he appeared on the same screen with Liu Guoliang, Chen Jin never had a chance to say a word.

He faced the camera the whole time, smiling, and his face was almost frozen.

Another moment passed.

The long interview finally came to an end.

As the reporter walked away, Liu Guoliang smiled and patted Chen Jinda on the shoulder: "I heard you're playing against Felix in the first round?"

It is said that?

Didn't you know this in advance?
"Ah."

Chen Jin nodded.

"I've already spoken for you. Now it all depends on your performance."

Liu Guoliang looked at Chen Jin, "Are you under a lot of pressure?"

"Kind of."

Chen Jin said truthfully.

“Pressure brings motivation.”

Liu Guoliang smiled and said, "The process of an athlete's growth is actually a process of resisting pressure."

"If you can hold on, you will have a bright future. If you can't, you will either advance or retreat."

"Including Wang Hao, Ma Long and others, they all came this way step by step."

After listening to Liu Guoliang's words.

Chen Jin's heart sank, and he nodded solemnly, "Thank you for your trust, Coach Liu. I understand."

"Go."

Liu Guoliang smiled and said, "Train well and compete well."

"Yes."

Chen Jin walked away.

After taking a few steps, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“You’re famous now.”

Xie Mingyang said, "Not only is he a frequent visitor to the hot search list, but he can also be interviewed by Channel C with Coach Liu."

"Not everyone can have such treatment."

There was no trace of envy or jealousy in his words.

Instead, there was a hint of worry.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see why Liu Guoliang is going to such great lengths.

The higher you hold it, the risk of it being shattered into pieces once it falls.

Xie Mingyang couldn't imagine how terrible the backlash from public opinion would be if Chen Jin lost the match against Felix.

I don’t even know whether Chen Jin has the psychological endurance to handle it.

"being targeted."

Chen Jin frowned slightly and sighed softly, "I would rather play the game purely for fun."

"People in the arena involuntarily."

Xie Mingyang whispered, "Let it be."

While talking.

But Wang Hao walked over with his arms folded across his chest, looking Chen Jin up and down.

"Has the pressure suddenly increased a lot?"

Wang Hao smiled slightly, "You have to remember that for athletes, the honor and pressure outside the stadium are also part of the competition."

"This is also a compulsory course to become a top athlete. You have to adapt slowly."

"If you can keep your mind steady under this kind of pressure, then from now on, whether in life or in competition, you will become an indestructible strong person."

Take a deep breath.

Chen Jin nodded: "Understood."

"Don't worry, I'll be on the sidelines for you during the game the day after tomorrow."

Wang Hao raised his chin slightly, and raised his thick eyebrows, "A mere Felix can't turn the world upside down."

In the past, the Chinese national table tennis team did not have a single good straight-blade player, and that was fine.

But now, Chen Jin has finally emerged. If I let the external cooperation continue to jump around, wouldn’t it make me, the master of straight-blade horizontal hitting, appear incompetent?
Must fuck him!

This is not only Wang Hao's self-confidence, but also his trust in Chen Jin.

"With this statement from Wang Guiding, I am not afraid even if the king of heaven comes."

Chen Jin smiled.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Wang Hao laughed.

Then, he stopped smiling and said seriously: "Jokes aside, we can despise the enemy strategically, but we must take the enemy seriously tactically."

After all, as a straight-blade player, Felix, at such a young age, was able to carve out a path among a group of horizontal-blade players and rank among the best in the world. He has his own strengths.

"Felix's pen-blade playing style is very consistent with today's mainstream playing style, especially the backhand, which is known for its speed."

Wang Hao said, "From the moment he serves, his speed is very fast, which doesn't allow his opponent to think carefully about tactics."

"Also, Felix's serve has many variations, so you have to keep an eye on his serve, especially his back-hand serve, which is difficult to judge the spin and often hard to defend against."

"In addition to serving, Felix's on-table shots are also very good because he uses a straight racket. He attacks quickly in the first three shots, and his shots are sharp and fierce."

"Of course, Felix's most distinctive style of play is his speed of attack."

"Especially the backhand, which uses speed to counter violence, gives many players a headache."

(End of this chapter)