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

Chapter 184 The Eve of the Finals
10 month 6 day.

BJ Grand Slam, final day.

The competition started at six o'clock in the afternoon.

First round.

Women's singles final.

Sun Yingsha VS Wang Manyu.

second round.

Men's singles final.

Ma Taki vs. Chen Jin.

There is no doubt that these two games have attracted much attention.

As the Asian Championships was about to start, Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun, Lin Shidong and others, led by Qin Zhijian, took the lead in setting off for Astana.

The schedule is indeed a bit tight.

It was almost seamless, with little time to rest.

This is also what Wang Hao is worried about.

Using competition as training can certainly help people improve a lot.

However, it is also a great test for the athletes' physical strength.

"With your current achievements and abilities, why didn't you participate in the Asian Championships?"

There was no training plan in the morning, so Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang stayed in the hotel room to recuperate.

With nothing to do, the two of them chatted.

"I want to participate in the national championships."

Chen Jin shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it's just an Asian Championship. With the world's number one and Lin Shidong, there shouldn't be any problems...right?"

"Last night, Coach Liu approached me privately and wanted me to go to the Asian Championships with Lin Shidong as his sparring partner."

Xie Mingyang said.

"Oh?"

Chen Jin was stunned for a moment, "What a good opportunity, why didn't you go?"

Although he was just Lin Shidong's sparring partner, it was a good thing to be able to go out and gain some experience.

Besides, there are countless talented players in the Chinese table tennis team, and not everyone has the opportunity to become a main sparring partner.

I don’t know how many people have tried their best but still failed to get what they wanted.

"I refused."

Xie Mingyang spoke in a flat tone.

To know.

In the eyes of others, such an opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But he abandoned it.

"Since I'm just serving as your sparring partner anyway, I might as well focus on being your sparring partner."

Xie Mingyang said.

Hearing the hidden meaning behind these words, Chen Jin looked at Xie Mingyang and smiled bitterly: "Are you disgusted with Lin Shidong?"

"Ah."

Xie Mingyang nodded.

"..."

Chen Jin was speechless for a moment.

In fact, he understood Xie Mingyang's thoughts.

In the last Macau Championship and this BJ Grand Slam, Lin Shidong lost to Chen Jin twice.

They were swept 4:0.

Which one is strong and which one is weak is clear at a glance.

The title of the strongest new generation of national table tennis team is not worthy of the title.

With Xie Mingyang's personality, even if he is asked to be a sparring partner, he would rather be the strongest one.

This way, you can learn more.

In fact, during this period, Xie Mingyang felt that his strength had greatly increased.

In Lima, he made it to the semi-finals but lost to Darko.

After practicing with Chen Jin for such a long time, Xie Mingyang was confident that if he met Dako again next time, he would be able to defeat him in one fell swoop.

Most importantly.

He has become familiar with Chen Jin.

"To be honest, Lin Shidong is still quite strong."

Chen Jin glanced at Xie Mingyang and said bluntly, "With your current strength, you may not be a match for Lin Shidong."

"so what?"

Xie Mingyang raised his chin slightly, with a fierce look in his eyes, "Sooner or later, I will defeat him."

"Lin Shidong was trained to be the absolute main force."

Chen Jin smiled.

"Can't I become the absolute main force?"

Xie Mingyang is full of confidence.

"Ok."

Chen Jin also had to admit that Xie Mingyang's strength had improved greatly compared to the qualifiers or the Lima station.

Defeating Lin Gaoyuan and forcing Liang Jingkun into a desperate situation is the best proof.

In time, Xie Mingyang may become one of the three absolute main players of the national table tennis team.

There was a pause.

Chen Jin asked, "Are you participating in the National Championships?"

"Ah."

Xie Mingyang nodded.

"Singles or groups?"

"Thanks to you and Zhang Jiahao, my singles spot was taken away from me."

"..."

Chen Jin was a little embarrassed.

He also didn't expect that Zhang Jiahao actually replaced Xie Mingyang's singles spot.

"But I don't mind."

Xie Mingyang said calmly, "I participated in the singles competition of the National Championships in order to get a ranking in the national table tennis team. Now that I have entered, there is no need for it."

"Besides, I saw the list of participants for the singles event in this national championship. It's not very challenging. I don't think it's a big deal if I don't participate."

Speaking of this, I am no longer interested.

"Has the list of participants for the National Championships been announced?"

Chen Jin was slightly stunned.

Recently, his mind has been entirely focused on the Grand Slam.

I didn't pay much attention to the information about the National Championships and knew nothing about it.

If we weren't talking about this, I would still be at a loss.

Immediately, I took out my cell phone and checked online.

Ding Xiaowei, Ouyang Liangqin, Qin Wenjie, Anyang, Chen Zihan, Shu Sanhu...

Almost all of them are old friends from the trials.

In addition to these people, the names of Chen Jin, Zhang Jiahao and Xu Xin are also on the list.

Due to some conflicts in the schedules of the National Championships and the Asian Championships, the main players of the national table tennis team, such as Wang Chuqin and others, all went to participate in the Asian Championships.

Ma Long withdrew from the competition, and Fan Zhendong only participated in the team competition. As Xie Mingyang said, this national championship is not very challenging.

Instead, it has become a stage for young players.

The only person that interested Chen Jin was Xu Xin.

"It makes me not want to participate in singles anymore."

Chen Jin was in a low mood.

Today, he competes with top players in the world of table tennis, and his taste has become a bit more sophisticated.

After being used to eating delicacies from land and sea, it is really hard for him to swallow coarse bran and brown rice.

The key is, what if I meet Zhang Jiahao in the top 32?

You neither win nor lose.

"That's all."

Chen Jin thought about it carefully and said, "Let's talk to the provincial team. I will just participate in the team competition in this national championship."

"Give this singles opportunity to others."

To him, the singles spot in the National Championships is like chicken ribs, dispensable.

After all, he now holds two championships, the Lima Regular Challenge and the Macau Championship.

There is no need to use a national championship singles title to prove your strength.

However, for many other players, this singles spot is extremely precious.

"correct."

Xie Mingyang suddenly remembered something, "After the National Championships, the WTT Montpellier Championship will be held soon."

"With your points, you should be automatically qualified for the competition, right?"

In this Grand Slam, Chen Jin made it to the finals and will get at least 1400 points.

Together with the previous 1400, it is enough for Chen Jin to rank among the top ten in the world.

Become the fastest and youngest top ten player in the world!

"Correct."

Chen Jin nodded, "Coach Wang told me about this last night."

"It means that I am going to France with you again."

"what?"

"Can you abandon me as your sparring partner for the Montpellier Championship?"

"No, what if you can compete?"

"Then let me lend you some good words."

……

Half past four in the afternoon.

Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang came to the training hall.

There were very few people training in the gym.

In addition to them, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu were also doing warm-up training.

"Looking at Wang Manyu's condition, something seems to be wrong."

Li Qian stood by with his arms folded across his chest, glanced at Wang Manyu not far away, and whispered, "In this state, I'm afraid we will lose tonight."

Hear the words.

Chen Jin and Xie Mingyang turned their heads and found that Wang Manyu was indeed a little depressed.

"Did something happen at home?"

Chen Jin guessed.

"possible."

Li Qian nodded, and then said seriously, "Warm up well and take care of yourself first."

Tonight's game is particularly crucial for Chen Jin.

As long as he can defeat Ma Taki, his status within the national table tennis team will be no different from Ma Taki's successor.

Looking back, there was no sign of Ma Long.

Li Qian took this opportunity to say to Chen Jin, "Chen Jin, don't be nervous about the match against Team Long. Relax your mind."

"Based on my observations, I can say with confidence that you can beat him. You can definitely beat him."

"Based on your current competitive state, Team Dragon is at best just as good as you..."

Chen Jin laughed and said, "He has half a pound of gold, and I have eight ounces of scrap iron?"

"of course not!"

Li Qian said, "You are both gold, but you are 24K."

"The only thing that makes Team Long better than you is that he is a little more famous than you and pays more attention to details than you."

"In addition to your skills, you win in terms of physical strength and speed."

“The quality of the backhand boards is also higher than that of the Dragons.”

"Best of seven games, the tolerance for error is very high. Even if the score is 3-3, you will definitely be the winner in the end."

"The key is that you have to have this kind of confidence. You can't be defensive. Be aggressive and rush at him!"

As Chen Jin's nominal temporary head coach, Li Qian knew that he might not be able to guide Chen Jin technically.

However, he also has an advantage, that is...chicken soup is enough to fill you up.

Ma Taki is a veteran who has been competing in the arena for more than 20 years. With rich experience, a stable mentality, and superb skills and tactics, he was the number one player in the world table tennis at that time.

What’s more, this game is a civil war.

There was no off-field coaching from either side.

For a tactical master like Ma Taki, it doesn’t matter whether there is off-field guidance or not.

But Chen Jin is different.

Although he has performed well recently, the opponent he faces this time is the GOAT of table tennis.

This inevitably made Li Qian worried and nervous.

To be fair, when it comes to skills, Chen Jin is definitely not inferior to Ma Taki.

however.

On the field, when masters compete, it’s not just about skills.

It is also a showdown of experience, mentality and adaptability.

The latter is exactly the area that Ma Taki is good at.

After all, Chen Jin is too young and lacks experience in major competitions.

What worries Li Qian even more is...

Since his debut in the trials, Chen Jin has almost always played with the wind.

In the battle with Ma Taki, if Chen Jin encounters an unfavorable situation, it remains unknown whether he can withstand it with his mentality.

"Master Li, don't worry."

Chen Jin smiled slightly. He, the person involved, was even calmer than Li Qian. "I have been looking forward to fighting Team Long for a long time."

"He's strong, but I'm not weak either."

"If we can't even get past the Dragon Team, how can we talk about carrying the banner of the future of national table tennis?"

The voice just fell.

At this moment, Ma Long's laughter came from not far away: "Well said!"

"The game hasn't even started yet, this confidence and momentum is what we need."

Everyone followed the sound.

But Ma Taki was seen wearing a red jacket, carrying a backpack, walking towards us with a smile, taking the steps that only a double-circle Grand Slam player could do.

"Ok?"

As soon as he saw Ma Long, Li Qian was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly lit up, "Captain Long actually... used hairspray?"

(End of this chapter)