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

Chapter 429 Win the championship!

1: 8.

The red numbers on the scoreboard seemed like an invisible mountain range, pressing down on us.

Hugo raised his hand to wipe his sweat, feeling immense pressure: "Is it really that hard to win a game?"

The huge point difference was like an insurmountable chasm, standing between him and victory.

In the previous game, he was able to fight hard against his opponent, dragging the game to a 12-10 pace.

Now, standing on the edge of a cliff, even getting a single point is as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Let alone any chance of a comeback.

A sense of despair quietly arose from the depths of his heart, like a cold tide spreading from the deep sea, icy and piercing, penetrating his limbs and freezing the blood in his body.

Each breath felt like swallowing iron filings, with a dull, painful sensation in my lungs.

"Whoo~"

Hugo let out a long sigh.

He raised his eyes.

My gaze passed over the net and landed on the young figure on the other side.

Chen Jin's eyes were lowered, and he exuded an unstoppable aura, revealing his sharp edge.

It was as if an ancient dragon from the void was shrouding the arena.

It is even more frightening.

But the game wasn't over yet.

With racket in hand, my feet remain firmly planted on this court that carries countless honors and dreams.

The dignity of a top athlete and the deep-rooted professionalism sustained Hugo as he emerged from the ruins of despair.

"Whoo~"

Another deep breath.

Hugo forced himself to concentrate, gripped the white ball, and strode towards the serve position.

He swung his racket, fanned himself, and turned to look at Chen Jin.

Immediately, he tossed the ball high into the air.

The middle path is short.

Do not forward.

Chen Jin stepped forward and made a short, low arc, landing in Hugo's forehand small triangle.

Perhaps it was a fluctuation in my mindset that clouded my judgment.

Or perhaps it was a subconscious urge to fight that drove him to act recklessly.

Faced with Chen Jin's short-range control, Hugo made a decisive move, stepping forward to launch an attack.

Just listen to a crisp sound of "pop".

Forehand flick!

There are no tricks involved; it's all about brute force.

Unfortunately.

The miracle did not happen.

Chen Jin's short push, with its controlled spin, carried a stronger backspin than expected.

Hugo's forehand flick, relying purely on impact, cannot neutralize the spin.

"laugh!"

The ball hits the net.

"9:1."

The referee's voice announcing the score sounded like a cold machine.

We're getting closer and closer to the championship.

The scene was instantly ignited.

"Chen Jin!"

"come on--"

……

"come on!"

"Chen Jin—"

……

The shouts, like a tidal wave, surged wildly towards the center of the field from all directions.

The air was stirred.

Countless red flags waved continuously above the stands, forming a sea of ​​fire.

The rest area on the sidelines.

Wang Hao's body tensed up, and he leaned forward so much that he almost left his seat.

His hands were clenched tightly and pressed against his knees.

He gritted his teeth and stared intently at the action on the court, as if he wanted to transfer all his strength to the ping-pong ball in Chen Jin's hand.

VIP viewing area.

Zhang Jiahao was extremely nervous, barely daring to breathe: "Brother Jin, take it easy."

"Aim for two serves and win the game directly."

Although Xie Mingyang and Lin Shidong, who were sitting next to him, did not say anything, their expressions showed that they were also holding their breath and anxious.

at this time.

All eyes turned to Chen Jin.

When Chen Jin stood on the left side of the table, the scene instantly fell silent.

"Da da da, da da da..."

Bending over, leaning forward.

Throw the ball with your left hand.

Chen Jin hooked a short, non-spinning shot down the middle.

Hugo quickly took a step forward.

However, this time when receiving the serve, he did not use a topspin flick, nor did he choose the conventional short push or long chop.

The moment he touched the ball, his wrist snapped sharply.

"laugh!"

The return shot, with sidespin, flew towards Chen Jin's center line slightly to the right.

It's clear that Hugo wanted to add some rhythm and spin variations when receiving serves.

Even though he knew there was no hope of turning the tide, he still tried various tactics and techniques.

Even winning by just one point is a victory.

Despite holding a huge advantage, Chen Jin remained vigilant.

He saw right through Hugo's subtle hand gestures.

Step forward and seize the landing point.

As the ball rises, bend your wrist inward, secretly gathering power.

The forearm drives the wrist, unleashing a burst of power, and the forehand is suddenly twisted and swung out.

"laugh!"

The technology is unique to the candybar version.

— Twist with your forehand!

The ping-pong ball, carrying a strong sidespin, drew a strange arc in the air, transforming into a white arrow that pierced through the air with a sharp whistle, heading straight for Hugo's right side of the table.

Hugo's pupils suddenly contracted.

In an instant, his killing intent surged.

Lower your body and lean forward, tighten your core, and draw back your right hand to generate power.

Facing this kind of half-high ball on the forehand side, this is almost an instinct for counter-attacking ingrained in the bones of top players.

"Snapped!"

Hugo unleashes a powerful forehand smash.

however.

The moment the racket struck the ball, the sensation from his palm at the one ten-thousandth of a second of contact sent chills down his spine.

wrong!

This rotation is wrong!
I originally thought that Chen Jin's forehand topspin return would be a sidespin topspin.

But when he hit the ball, he realized that the spin was not quite what he had imagined.

"Side down?!"

"He actually managed to do a sidespin backspin?"

Hugo's eyes widened, and he gasped.

I subconsciously wanted to adjust the pattern.

However, once the shot is launched, it's like an arrow released from a bow, and there's no way to stop it.

Press down hard with the racket face at the angle you would use to handle a topspin shot.

The results are self-evident.

"Break!"

It was accompanied by a dull, despairing soft sound.

The ball has hit the net.

10: 1.

Set point!
Match point!

It's the championship point!
“Wow——!!!”

The thunderous cheers echoed throughout the stadium once again at this moment.

The enormous roar was no longer a cheer.

It was a tsunami, an earthquake.

It was the roar of tens of thousands of hearts beating in unison!
The championship is within reach!
The Evans Cup, which symbolizes one of the highest honors in table tennis, is almost within reach!

Even Chen Jin's heart was stirred with a few ripples of unease.

"Whoo~"

Chen Jin took a deep breath, "Calm down!"

"The ball hasn't landed yet, the outcome is still uncertain, we can't start celebrating at halftime."

He forcibly suppressed the surging emotions within him.

Just then.

Behind him came Wang Hao's voice: "Stay calm! Stay calm! Serve well!" Chen Jin nodded.

He reached out and caught the ping-pong ball the referee tossed to him, blew on it, and glanced at it.

Then, he bent down.

The scene was silent.

All the audience members held their breath, staring at Chen Jin.

Time was stretched out indefinitely.

A second felt like an eternity.

"laugh!"

Chen Jin's hook shot is a short, non-spinning attack.

Faced with a huge point difference and knowing that there was no hope of a comeback, Hugo's mindset actually relaxed.

Step forward and twist the handle with your backhand.

Chen Jin reversed the straight line.

Hugo leaped into the air and executed a forehand counter-attack.

Chen Jinzheng quickly took the left half of the table.

This ball was extremely fast, and its landing angle allowed for a wide range of movement.

I initially thought Hugo was too slow to react.

But to everyone's surprise, Hugo's foot speed was as fast as lightning.

With a crossover step that spans the entire table, he seizes position and, like lightning, unleashes a powerful backhand smash.

"Snapped!"

The ball flew like a cannonball, blasting through Chen Jin's backhand defense.

2: 10.

Hugo finally pulled one back.

At the same time, they also saved a match point.

Unfortunately, it was only one point, a drop in the ocean compared to the huge score difference.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”

Zhang Jiahao muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on Chen Jin, "Hugo now is just a rabbit's tail, an autumn grasshopper, a loach in a latrine, a bump on a rat's tail..."

"If this gets flipped over, I'll sprinkle some cumin on it and chew up the chair I'm sitting on!"

Wang Hao, sitting on the sidelines, crossed his arms, his face expressionless, calm and composed.

Switch sides and serve.

Hugo held the ping-pong ball in his hand, a resolute glint in his eyes.

There was no probing, no holding back.

A fast, long ball suddenly attacked Chen Jin's backhand baseline.

"Whoosh-"

The white ball, like a poisoned dart, whistled past the top of the net with a low, piercing sound.

This shot came suddenly, long and high, enough to put any top player on the defensive instantly.

But, at the moment Hugo served.

Chen Jin seemed to have already grasped the other party's intentions.

Anticipate the landing point and push off hard with your feet.

"squeak!"

A piercing, teeth-grinding scraping sound came from the soles of the feet.

Chen Jin's body moved like an arrow released from a bow, opening up space for hitting the ball to the left at an unimaginable speed.

The ball flew towards me with deadly speed, about to pass the optimal hitting point.

Sudden.

Chen Jin swung his fist out.

In an instant, power rose from the ground.

A powerful force is transmitted from the waist and hips to the shoulders and back, and then into the right arm holding the racket.

The muscles in my right arm tensed instantly, like a steel cable.

The upper arm drives the forearm, and the forearm drives the wrist.

The racket in his hand, like a steel whip brimming with thunder, met the whistling white ball with all his strength and will, and burst forth.

"Snapped!"

A deafening roar, like a thunderclap.

It was as if it wasn't a shot.

It's Thunder!
It's a nuclear explosion!
At the moment the sweet spot of the racket strikes the ball, the compressed air even generates a faint shock wave that is visible to the naked eye.

The white ping-pong ball, under the infusion of this destructive force, completely lost its "ball" shape.

Transforming into a pure, blazing white lightning bolt, carrying the deathly light of absolute will, it was enough to tear everything in sight apart.

If gods stand in the way, they will kill gods; if they stand in the way of Buddha, they will kill Buddha!
This shot was faster than anyone could react, and it landed with incredible precision on the inside white edge of the forehand side of Hugo's table, following a path that seemed to defy all hope.

"Break!"

The soft yet crisp sound of the platform being hit was like the whisper of death.

Hugo's right foot had barely left the ground by less than a centimeter, and his body, which was trying to move, was still frozen in the preparatory posture for exerting force.

His eyes followed the fleeting white light with despair.

The last thing reflected in his pupils was the tiny point of impact on the edge of his own table tennis table.

The ball lands.

A faint bouncing sound came from beyond the distant barrier.

Time was frozen in that moment.

On the scoreboard, the score for the fourth game jumped silently.

11: 2.

Dead silence.

It was as if the air had stopped moving, and even the dust had frozen in mid-air.

but,
This heart-stopping silence lasted for less than half a second.

next second.

“Wow——!!!”

The stadium's solid dome seemed about to be violently ripped open from the inside out by a violent force emanating from the depths of the earth.

The cheers, which had been building up to their peak, erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for millions of years.

Applause, roars, screams, hysterical shouts... countless sounds converged into a torrent of sound powerful enough to tear eardrums.

The torrent swept violently through every inch of space, crashing wildly against the walls and ceiling, causing the entire building to tremble in resonance.

in the audience.

Those red flags were no longer waving, but burning and tumbling wildly in the raging tide.

Like a boundless sea of ​​fire, it threatens to engulf the entire world.

"Chen Jin, champion!"

"Chen Jin, champion!"

"Chen Jin, champion!"

A tremendous roar, with overwhelming force, repeatedly assaulted everything.

Center of the field.

Chen Jin was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently, each breath a burning pain.

He raised his head, his gaze first falling on the ground of the opposite table.

The small white ball lay quietly in the corner outside the barrier, like a symbol of utter demise.

Then, his gaze slowly moved upwards.

The final image was captured on the giant electronic scoreboard.

Fourth set, 11-2.

The score is 4-0.

That moment.

His rock-hard gaze, like solid ice exposed to the spring sun, began to melt and shatter silently.

Joy, mixed with a tremendous sense of relief, surged forth from beneath the shattered ice, instantly engulfing every cell in his body.

The light was so intense that it almost pierced his eyes.

champion!

World Cup Men's Singles Champion!
My first real world championship in my professional career!
Finally... I got it!

Chen Jin slowly raised his clenched right fist, every muscle in his arm twitching slightly.

The hand that had just unleashed a devastating blow was now clenched into a fist, carrying immense power and all its glory, and raised high towards the boiling, burning stands, towards the battlefield that had witnessed his coronation as king.

"Zhu--"

Courtside.

Wang Hao jumped up like a cannonball that had been ignited.

Waving his arms, his face was filled with ecstasy like exploding fireworks, and a completely out-of-tune roar burst from his throat.

VIP viewing area.

Coaches and players alike stood up, clapped enthusiastically, and paid their respects.

"Brother Jin, you're awesome!!!"

Zhang Jiahao gripped Xie Mingyang's arm tightly, shook it violently, and roared angrily.

He seemed even more excited than if he had won the championship himself.

Xie Mingyang, who had been tense all night, finally showed a smile: "Congratulations, Chen Jin."

At the other end of the table, Hugo remained standing in the same spot.

He lowered his head slightly, his gaze passing through the bustling sea of ​​red, landing on the area belonging to the victors, on the young king surrounded by thousands, radiating brilliance.

A profound sense of loss washed over my heart like an icy tide.

But just seconds later, something deeper welled up from beneath that desolate ice—a sense of relief.

Hugo let out a long breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and gently shook his head, a complex and bitter smile curving his lips.

The outcome is decided, and the dust has settled.

After straightening the sweat-soaked hem of his jersey, Hugo strode forward with the dignity of a loser and the most genuine respect between athletes, resolutely walking towards his opponent on the other side of the net, who had just conquered the world, and extending his right hand to Chen Jin.

"Congratulations!"

(End of this chapter)