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

Chapter 156 Then...see you in the finals?

Felix Lebrun made his debut at the age of fifteen, playing with a straight-blade horizontal stroke. In the past two or three years, he has risen rapidly and his world ranking has continued to soar.

As the head coach of the men's table tennis team and the master who has brought the straight-blade horizontal hitting style to its peak, Wang Hao has to pay attention to Felix.

Wang Hao talked about it eloquently, and he knew everything about it: "Felix's backhand has absorbed the characteristics of the horizontal board back-tear. The movement is small, the force is concentrated, the speed is fast and the power is strong."

“The transition between forehand and backhand is smoother.”

"His forehand was relatively weak before, but in this Olympics, his forehand has obviously been strengthened."

Speaking of which.

Wang Hao paused for a moment, and his expression showed some appreciation. "I have to say, Felix is ​​indeed a straight-blade genius."

Felix’s strength and talent are evident from the fact that he received such praise from Wang Hao.

"However, although he is strong, his fighting style is not without weaknesses."

Wang Hao smiled slightly, as if he had it all figured out. "As long as we can control his first three shots, change the placement of his shots, and limit his speed, he will basically have no chance of scoring."

"Also, from his serve, we can tell that Felix has a bit of an impatient temper."

“Once you’re at a disadvantage, it’s very difficult to turn things around.”

"Besides that, although Felix's hitting speed is very fast, his power is slightly lacking."

"With your speed, as long as you stay in the middle or near the table, you can definitely play fast against him."

"Once you catch up with the speed, Felix's strength won't be able to hit you at all. You can use your strength boldly without any worries."

"What's more, we are playing at home, so we can overwhelm him with our momentum."

Listen quietly to Wang Hao's analysis.

With this straight-blade horizontal hitting master backing him up, Chen Jin is even more confident and his confidence is soaring.

Of course, analyzing the opponent before the game is just a prediction in advance so as to arrange tactics.

There are too many influencing factors on the playing field.

As long as the ball hasn't landed, no one dares to say with certainty that they will win.

At most it can increase the winning rate slightly.

If you really want to win the game, you need athletes to have the ability to respond on the field.

Chen Jin was very clear about this.

Therefore, even though Wang Hao was in charge, he never relaxed at all.

the next day.

9 month 28 day.

The last day of qualifying.

Xie Mingyang had two games in total.

One at noon and one at night.

Chen Jin was present at the scene and watched the game.

In the end, in both games, Xie Mingyang defeated his opponents with a big score of 3:1 and successfully advanced to the main competition.

By the time the last game was over, it was already half past nine.

Chen Jin accompanied Xie Mingyang back to the hotel.

on the road.

"He's improved recently."

Chen Jin looked Xie Mingyang up and down and said with a smile, "The ball on the table is more stable, the first three shots are more fierce, and even the backhand is a lot more violent."

During the trials, Xie Mingyang was certainly very strong.

However, neither the ball on the table nor the first three boards can be compared with the present.

To know.

Now, there is less than a month left until the trials.

However, Xie Mingyang's technical strength has increased visibly.

"With you as my sparring partner, it's hard not to improve my skills."

Xie Mingyang said.

The tone is still so cold.

A hint of gratitude flashed in the depths of his dark eyes.

With Chen Jin's current strength and record, he has already become one of the main players of the national table tennis team.

During the qualifying round, he was willing to serve as his sparring partner.

Not only that, Chen Jin was also generous and selflessly shared his experiences and insights with him.

It benefited him a lot.

What's more, he was standing next to Chen Jin and Ma Long, listening quietly to their conversation that night.

This situation is like in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", when Monk Jueyuan recited the "Nine Yang Manual" before his death, and Xie Mingyang was like Guo Xiang or Zhang Junbao who was guarding beside him.

Both his skills and tactics as well as his consciousness and thinking have had a profound impact on him.

This qualifying competition gave him a chance to prove himself in practice.

After trying it, I achieved twice the result with half the effort and my skills improved a lot.

After a few games, it was quite easy to win.

"You are awesome, what does it have to do with me?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "But seeing you play so well, I feel a little itchy."

"how?"

Xie Mingyang raised his eyebrows, "Want to fight with me?"

"how?"

The words have not yet fallen.

Xie Mingyang suddenly stopped.

He immediately turned around and said, "Let's go back to the training hall."

"What are you doing?"

Chen Jin was stunned for a moment.

"A fight."

Xie Mingyang was filled with a fierce fighting spirit, and his blood instantly boiled.

"What's the point of a private duel?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "I want to fight you in a real arena."

"A real arena?"

There seemed to be flames dancing in Xie Mingyang's eyes.

"You've made it to the finals. We'll have a chance to fight again this time."

Chen Jin smiled slightly.

Before this, the two had only really fought each other twice.

One was a "friendly match" full of gunpowder, and the other was the semi-finals of the qualifiers.

Both encounters ended with Xie Mingyang's defeat.

Since then, the two have never really competed again.

"Right."

Xie Mingyang nodded, "If we can really meet in the competition this time, I may not lose to you again."

"It's no use making harsh remarks before the game."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "You won't know until you actually fight."

The two chatted as they walked towards the hotel.

Return to the room.

When Chen Jin came out of the shower.

But Xie Mingyang was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his phone, and he looked up and said to Chen Jin, "The sign is out."

"Oh?"

Chen Jin asked, "Which half are you in?"

"The lower half."

Xie Mingyang said in a deep voice.

"The lower half?"

Chen Jin frowned slightly, "I'm in the upper half."

"If we want to meet in this Grand Slam, we have to reach the final together."

Let’s leave Chen Jin aside.

In the lower half of the single lane, world-class players such as Ma Long, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, Hugo and Dako are present.

It would undoubtedly be extremely difficult to defeat them and advance to the finals.

"It's definitely a bit difficult."

Xie Mingyang did not deny it, "But, isn't competitive sports about challenging the impossible?"

"Then...see you in the finals?"

"See you in the finals!"

"By the way, who is your opponent in the first round?"

"Zhang Yuzhen."

"The top player of the Korean team next door?"

"I'm not sure if he is the top player, but Jang Woo-jin's current world ranking should be the highest in the Korean team."

"indeed."

Chen Jin checked online, "The latest ranking is 14th."

"Just above Darko."

Although the world ranking cannot fully represent the players' strength ranking.

However, as long as there is no upset, it still has some reference value.

"You mentioned Dako, are you hinting at something?"

Xie Mingyang said.

"It's not a hint, it's a reminder."

Chen Jin smiled.

Just finished.

Sudden.

A "Mmmmm" sound was heard.

The cell phone on the bedside table kept vibrating. Chen Jin walked over and picked it up to take a look.

It was a video call from Zhang Jiahao.

As soon as it was connected.

The first thing that caught my eye was Zhang Jiahao’s smug smile.

"Dangdangdangdang~"

Zhang Jiahao grinned and said, "Brother Jin, guess where I am now?"

"Is there any need to guess?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Modu Team."

"Bingo!"

Zhang Jiahao snapped his fingers and zoomed out with his phone camera. "New uniforms, new dormitories."

"As expected of the Magic City team, the environment here is much better than our provincial team."

Ever since Chen Jin contacted Wang Liqin, Wang Liqin immediately invited Zhang Jiahao to join the Magic City team.

Zhang Jiahao had already arrived at the Magic City team.

It’s just that I was just going through the tryout process in the past few days.

It was not until today that I officially joined the team.

"Wow, not bad."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Put on this new jersey, and you will feel like a real man."

"Although the new uniforms are good, I still prefer the national team's uniforms."

Zhang Jiahao lowered his voice.

"come on."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Return to the national team as soon as possible."

If that incident had not happened, with Zhang Jiahao's performance in Lima, he might have been able to get a qualifying round in this Grand Slam.

It’s a pity that fate plays tricks on us and this is God’s will.

But then again, this may not be a bad thing for Zhang Jiahao.

"Awesome!"

Zhang Jiahao clenched his right fist, looking very serious, just like a certain emoticon, "By the way, did Xie make it to the finals?"

"In."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Since you care about him so much, why don't you chat with him?"

He pretended to hand over the phone.

"I care about him? What a joke."

Zhang Jiahao curled his lips and said, "I just want to find out. If he doesn't make it to the finals, I'm going to go out for a big meal tomorrow to celebrate."

"hehe."

Chen Jin sneered twice.

"Ugh."

Zhang Jiahao suddenly sighed, with a look of desolation on his face. "Our three Lima musketeers, you and the guy named Xie, are both going to play in the Grand Slam, but I..."

Speaking of which.

I couldn't help but choke up.

He turned his head and sniffed.

Originally, being sent back to the provincial team by the national table tennis team was such a blow that he was already feeling bad.

Unexpectedly, a bigger blow was yet to come.

After returning to the provincial team, he was expelled.

Like bolts from the blue, one after another, they fell on our heads.

Zhang Jiahao even wanted to die.

Fortunately, I am afraid of pain and death, and I have played in many competitions over the years, so my psychological endurance is much stronger than that of my peers.

What's more, whenever it's late at night and I'm sad, there are still many old friends to comfort me.

For example, Mikami, Aizawa, Matsushima...

It was with the encouragement of these old friends that he managed to get through one difficult night after another.

Most importantly.

Chen Jin discovered something was wrong in time, and a phone call completely pulled him back from the edge of the cliff.

Zhang Jiahao was instantly reborn.

Now, seeing that Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang are developing better and better in the national table tennis team, Zhang Jiahao is happy for them, but he also feels a little lost deep in his heart.

"Don't think too much."

Chen Jin comforted him, "We are leading the way for you now. When you return to the national team, you will have Xie Mingyang and I to protect you. Who will dare to bully you?"

"It seems right."

Hearing this, Zhang Jiahao immediately became energetic, "Brother Jin, I'm determined to hold on to you, and no one can stop me even if the king of heaven comes."

"Then again, Brother Jin, you are really popular now."

"You've been on the hot search list these days. I suspect you bought a villa."

Although Chen Jin didn't pay much attention to these things, he could guess a thing or two.

He immediately smiled bitterly.

“I didn’t buy this villa.”

Chen Jinwei shrugged his shoulders, somewhat helplessly, "It's just that someone else lent it to me to live in. If I don't meet their wishes, I will be kicked out sooner or later."

"It's ok."

Zhang Jiahao said firmly, "I believe that with your ability, Brother Jin, it won't be long before you can buy a villa of your own and live there as long as you want."

Without waiting for Chen Jin to speak.

At this time, Xie Mingyang suddenly interrupted coldly: "Naive."

"Don't you know that the current property rights of houses are 70 years?"

Chen Jin: "..."

"Brother Jin, is it the person named Xie who is speaking?"

Zhang Jiahao asked, "What did he say? Was he mocking me?"

"No, it's not."

Chen Jin smiled.

"By the way, Brother Jin."

Zhang Jiahao lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I asked around, and it turns out that Xie is really a second-generation rich man, and his family is very wealthy."

Is it necessary to inquire about this?

Judging from Xie Mingyang's usual behavior, even a blind man could tell that this guy was either rich or noble.

"and then?"

Chen Jin was not in the mood.

"We can knock him over a few more times later."

Zhang Jiahao said.

"I heard."

While scrolling through his phone, Xie Mingyang said calmly, "You just want to pay me for a few more meals. You are such a loser."

"Is Mr. Xie talking again?"

Zhang Jiahao shouted, "Mr. Xie, don't forget that you still owe me a meal."

"I haven't forgotten."

Xie Mingyang said nonchalantly, "Let's talk about it when you return to the national team."

"But you'd better hurry up."

“I heard that Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet will be closing next year.”

He and Chen Jin were separated by a window, and their voices were not loud, so Zhang Jiahao could not hear them clearly on the video call.

Zhang Jiahao: "What? What did you say?"

"Whatever you say, it's definitely nothing good."

"Don't be so arrogant. I'm telling you, Director Wang thinks highly of me now. I even met Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong a few days ago."

His tone and expression showed that he was proud.

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Have you asked Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong for their autographs?"

"Hey, Brother Jin, you look down on me too much."

Zhang Jiahao raised his head and said, "I am teammates with them now."

"It's so cheap to ask them for their autographs."

The National Championships is approaching, and as members of the Shanghai team, Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong will both participate.

However, in addition to the team competition, Xu Xin also signed up for singles.

Fan Zhendong only participates in groups.

Therefore, during this period of time, I have been training with the Magic City team.

With Zhang Jiahao's current qualifications, he is naturally not qualified to participate in the Magic City team's team competition.

But Wang Liqin did not break his promise.

One of the singles spots on the Magic City team was given to Zhang Jiahao.

Even Zhang Jiahao and Xu Xin were arranged to train together.

Hearing that Zhang Jiahao and Chen Jin were good friends, Xu Xin naturally did not refuse.

"is it?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "I have been training with Team Long these days. I wanted to ask you for Team Long's autograph or something..."

The words were not finished.

Then an excited scream was heard.

"Team Dragon?"

Zhang Jiahao's eyes lit up, his face was full of excitement, and he nodded repeatedly like a chick eating rice, "I want it, I want it, I want it."

"I still say that, I will wait until you return to the national team."

Chen Jin smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, Brother Jin."

Zhang Jiahao put away his playful smile, his expression serious, and said word by word, "I will definitely not let you down."

(End of this chapter)