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

Chapter 344 Simon Gortz: Chen Jin, New Bee!

Two hours later.

Backstage at the stadium.

Although the previous match had not yet ended, Chen Jin, accompanied by Wang Hao, signed for his racket, selected his balls, had his racket tested, and waited in advance for the match.

Chen Jin and Wang Hao sat quietly, neither of them speaking.

After a while.

Simon Gortz also came backstage, saw Chen Jin, and took the initiative to come forward.

"Hi, Chen Jin."

Simon Gortz greeted him warmly in broken Chinese, "Hello."

This French star player rose to fame after defeating Xu Xin, who was ranked second in the world at the time, at the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest.

Now, facing Chen Jin, who is also ranked second in the world, he is equally ambitious.

Chen Jin's impression of him, apart from the matches, is that this guy often criticizes WTT on Instagram and criticizes "King of Decent Behavior" for his serve.

At the end of last year, when Fan Zhendong withdrew from the World Volleyball Championship, Simon Gauzy also spoke out in support of Fan Zhendong.

As the "best backdrop in table tennis," Simon Gauz is also known as the "judge of table tennis."

However, he is quite easygoing in private.

With a full beard, kind eyes, and a somewhat comical appearance.

Chen Jin was clearly surprised that Simon Gortz would greet him, and quickly stood up.

"Hello."

Chen Jin smiled.

"It's the terrain."

Simon Gortz rattled off a long string of words at an extremely fast pace.

"what?"

Chen Jin couldn't understand and looked completely bewildered.

I was about to take out my phone and open the translation app.

At this moment.

One of the staff members said to Chen Jin, "Simon Gauzy said he wants to challenge you and beat you on the field."

"welcome.

Chen Jin smiled, "We'll see."

Perhaps, to others, Simon Gortz's words sounded like a direct provocation.

However, Chen Jin disagreed.

He knew that this was actually Simon Gortz's recognition of his abilities.

After listening to the female employee's translation, Simon Gortz gave Chen Jin a thumbs up.

Then, he walked away.

With his coach, they found two empty seats and sat down.

However, Simon Gauzy couldn't sit still, so he stood up again, swung his racket empty-handed, and stretched to warm up.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The last match has finally ended.

As an off-site coach, Wang Hao went to the competition venue in advance to prepare.

Chen Jin and Simon Gauzy, led by staff, arrived at the stadium entrance and waited to take their turn.

They are rivals, yet they have no communication whatsoever.

As the host called out, the two entered the venue one after the other.

"Simon Gauzy's skills and ability are nothing compared to his trash talk."

With a little time left before going on stage, Wang Hao said to Chen Jin, "Simon Gauzy is good at mid-to-long range shots and has a strong backhand, but his forehand is relatively weak."

"Let's just hold onto the mid-range and close-range positions and compete with him on speed and placement. Let's not do anything fancy unless we have no other choice but to retreat."

"With your abilities, Simon Gortz simply can't break through you."

"Pay attention to his high balls, take them one by one, be steady, if that doesn't work, try to hit his short balls and make him the background player."

"Continuity, connection, and steadfastness."

"Come on, get excited!"

The words are not finished yet.

The referee has already reminded both players to enter the arena.

As usual, we'll toss a coin and guess who goes first.

Chen Jin was awarded the right to serve in the first round.

Game start.

In the first game, Simon Gauzy was clearly not in good form, or perhaps it was because it was his first time playing against Chen Jin and he still needed to adapt, so he made frequent mistakes.

Either drop a short ball into the net, or twist and pull it out of bounds.

Just two minutes.

Simon Gauzy lost six points in one go.

Before Chen Jinfa could even put up a fight, the score was already 6-0.

In the stands, Zhang Jiahao, Xie Mingyang, and Li Qian sat in a corner, watching the game from afar.

"You think this is enough to challenge Brother Jin?"

Zhang Jiahao laughed and said, "It looks like Brother Jin can easily win the first game."

"Could this be one of Simon Gauzy's tactics?"

Li Qian stroked his chin and pondered.

"Tactics?"

Zhang Jiahao asked curiously, "What tactics?"

Not only him, but even Xie Mingyang couldn't help but turn his gaze to Li Qian.

"Intentionally making mistakes to prevent Chen Jin from getting into a hot hand, and even to make Chen Jin careless."

Li Qian said, "Then they launched a surprise attack, catching Chen Jin completely off guard."

"Is this even considered a tactic?"

Zhang Jiahao shrugged slightly, dismissing the situation with disdain. "Such tactics might work against others, but against my Brother Jin, it's all a waste of time."

Based on his understanding of Chen Jin, so far, as long as Chen Jin is in the lead, no one has been able to turn the tide against him.

Moreover, once Chen Jin steps onto the court, he can instantly enter the game.

There is no such thing as "getting hot" when playing.

Because Chen Jin's touch was on fire from start to finish.

Simon Gauzy pulls back a point.

Xie Mingyang suddenly said.

"Nani?"

Zhang Jiahao was startled and looked up at the big screen.

The video is playing back on the screen.

Simon Gauz served a half-out serve, and Chen Jin responded with a high loop.

Simon Gauzy unleashed a powerful backhand smash, but couldn't control the ball's intense spin.

The ping-pong ball flew out of bounds.

However, Simon Gauzy was lucky and managed to get close, winning a point.

"Just a lucky break."

Zhang Jiahao curled his lip, "If you're so capable, let Simon Gauz go head-to-head and beat my brother Jin by one point." As it turned out, with Simon Gauz's strength, it was indeed difficult for him to break through Chen Jin head-on.

11: 2.

Chen Jin quickly won the first game with overwhelming force.

Only five minutes had passed since the start of the match.

Looking at the first game, Chen Jin played almost effortlessly, mostly picking up on Simon Gauzy's mistakes.

Before Chen Jin could even exert much effort, Simon Gauzy had already fallen.

The contrast between this and the pre-match trash talk is simply too stark.

Simon Gauz's coach, who was also on the sidelines, noticed this and earnestly advised him, "You've made too many mistakes. You need to control yourself in the second game. I'd rather you lose standing up than lose on your knees..."

What do you mean?
So, whether I stand or kneel, I'm destined to lose?

Simon Gauzy couldn't help but glare at the coach, but he had no way to refute it.

Chen Jin's name is widely known.

Although it was their first encounter, he knew that Chen Jin had never met his match since his debut.

All the players who were ranked higher than him and stronger than him, without exception, lost to Chen Jin after they had competed against him.

Originally, Simon Gortz was somewhat skeptical.

But after finishing the game, he realized that the real Chen Jin was even more terrifying than he had heard.

The quality of his powerful forehand smashes and backhand rips was unparalleled in my life.

Defeating Chen Jin is as difficult as climbing to heaven.

However, just as the coach said, even if he loses, he doesn't want to lose in such a humiliating way.

He wanted to tell the world that raising the white flag is not a tradition for all French people.

At least, he didn't have that tradition.

The coach continued, "You have to play your own style and play to your own level. Only then will you have even the slightest chance of winning."

"Otherwise, what's the difference between this and surrendering?"

Although the coach did not make any tactical adjustments, his verbal sparring did have some effect.

Simon Gorz seemed to be deep in thought, his fighting spirit renewed.

Second round.

He improved his skills.

They attempted to confront Chen Jin head-on.

Unfortunately, just as Wang Hao said before the match, Simon Gauzy's forehand and backhand quality was simply not enough to overpower Chen Jin.

Chen Jin started the game with a score of 7-0.

Simon Gortz was completely numb. He put one hand on his hip, looked at Chen Jin with a helpless expression, and his eyes revealed a hint of despair.

Just now, he unleashed a powerful backhand topspin straight shot.

Power, speed, landing point, and spin were all exceptionally well executed.

If it were any other player, he would have already smashed through the right half of the table with one shot.

However, Chen Jin's pace was like a video game where he was sprinting.

A flash, a diving forehand.

It miraculously pulled back into a straight line.

Such footwork and speed, such agile reflexes, it's simply superhuman!
How could Simon Gortz not feel despair?

Originally, his preferred playing style was to counter-attack from mid-to-long range and drop shots to move his opponent around and control the rhythm.

But his trick was completely ineffective against Chen Jin.

For example, the next goal when it was 9-2.

Seeing Chen Jin execute a sidespin backspin, Simon Gauzy countered with a backhand side flick and then decisively retreated from the table.

As expected, Chen Jin immediately charged head-on.

Simon Gauzy lobs the ball high.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

……

Chen Jin suddenly burst out laughing.

Each strike became more violent than the last.

Moreover, the landing angles are becoming increasingly tricky.

Fortunately, Simon Gauzy was in good form and managed to save the ball from the traps several times.

Seeing Simon Gauzy retreat further and further away, Chen Jin had already prepared to strike.

But then, they suddenly changed tactics midway through.

Press down on the take-off point and absorb the force quickly.

"F**K!"

Simon Gauzy cursed inwardly and desperately lunged toward the table.

Unfortunately, the distance is too far.

More importantly, Chen Jin's technique was extremely skillful, preventing him from stepping out of bounds on his second jump.

Simon Gorz's face became a meme after being hit.

I was furious, but I couldn't help but want to applaud Chen Jin.

Second game, 11:4.

Chen Jin won another game, putting him at three match points.

In the third game, Simon Gauzy's tactics did not change much.

The strategy remains the same: use mid-to-long range shots and high balls to defend as an offensive tactic, combined with powerful backhand flicks to create scoring opportunities.

Chen Chin-wen stood near the mid-table, unleashing powerful shots from both sides with his forehand and backhand.

The force and speed were so great that Simon Gauz's resignation was not the solution.

Moreover, the violent output, the lightning-fast continuous attacks, and the sharp angles of the shots left Simon Gauzy exhausted from running all over the table and unable to retaliate.

The final score was 11-3.

Chen Jin decisively defeated Simon Gauzy to advance to the round of 16 of the Singapore Grand Slam men's singles.

As the last ball landed.

competition is over.

Stunned by the beating, Simon Gortz shook his head, stood still, and gave Chen Jin a thumbs up.

"Chen Jin, New Bee!"

Simon Gortz gave it his heartfelt praise.

Having shed his murderous aura, Chen Jin reverted to his bright and cheerful youthful appearance.

A smile played at the corners of his mouth, making him appear harmless.

He walked over to Simon Gortz, extended his palm, and shook hands with him in a friendly manner.

This scene, captured on the large screen, came right into Zhang Jiahao's view.

Zhang Jiahao stood up, clapped, and grinned: "I knew it, my brother Jin can defeat any opponent who dares to challenge him."

Xie Mingyang couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth in response.

Although they remained silent, they deeply felt the same way.

He was the same way back then.

(End of this chapter)