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

Chapter 448 Violent Testing, Racket Damaged

Chapter 448 Violent Testing, Racket Damaged
Local time, 5:30 p.m.

Lusail Stadium.

The huge electronic scoreboard clearly displays the information for the upcoming match.

"Chen Jin (CHN) VS Liam Pitchford (ENG)."

In the audience, there were two or three people.

Among the few audience members, some were holding up banners supporting Chen Jin.

VIP viewing area.

Wang Liqin, Qin Zhijian, Xie Mingyang, Zhang Jiahao, and others sat in a row, watching the game from a distance.

With the referee's prompting, both players entered the arena.

All of a sudden.

A cheer erupted: "Chen Jin, go for it!"

Amid the cheers, Chen Jin strode forward with firm steps, a smile on his face, and waved in response.

He even saw the blond little boy again.

Half a year later, the little boy had obviously grown taller, but his full head of blond hair was quite striking.

The little boy, wearing a red jersey and waving a small red flag, shouted in Chinese, "Chen Jin, go for it!"

Chen Jin smiled slightly and gave the little boy a thumbs up.

Seeing this, the little boy became excited and his spirits lifted, and he worked even harder.

Followed by.

Pitchford jogged onto the field.

He was tall and slender, with a steady gait.

His facial features were well-defined, his hair was slicked back, and his eyes were focused like a hawk's.

As Wang Hao said before the match, Pitchford is not a traditional European power-type athlete, but only relatively speaking.

In fact, the quality of his single-board pieces is extremely high.

They are particularly adept at using their consistent and fast backhand strokes to suppress their opponents in close to mid-range situations.

The explosive power and flexibility of his wrists are beyond that of ordinary people.

Therefore, the varied and unpredictable landing points often make it difficult for opponents to defend against.

It can be said that Pitchford's playing style combines European power with Asian agility, forming a unique style of his own.

At his peak, even Ma Long and Xu Xin were defeated by him.

Fan Zhendong also praised him highly.

However, Pitchford is past his prime now.

And today's match is against this newly crowned world number one again.

Pitchford couldn't help but glance at the boy not far away from him out of the corner of his eye.

The young man before me is only sixteen years old. In less than a year since his debut, he has faced many strong opponents on the international stage and has never been defeated.

It soared to the top at rocket speed and firmly holds the number one spot in the world.

Moreover, having just been crowned the World Cup singles champion, he was enjoying unparalleled popularity.

Because the draw was conducted two weeks in advance, Pitchford had ample time to prepare.

Together with the coaching team, they repeatedly watched all of Chen Jin's match videos, trying to find any flaws or weaknesses.

However, the deeper he analyzed, the more powerless he felt.

The small ball inside the table is handled with finesse.

The first three shots were a fierce attack, powerful enough to shatter the heavens.

These are all traditional advantages of the penhold grip style, so there's nothing special about them.

What's even scarier is.

Chen Jin's forehand and backhand rallies are top-notch in terms of power, speed, and consistency.

Even in mid-to-long-range rallies, he is still superior to the world's top penhold players.

Their movements were swift as the wind.

With unparalleled skill, he can effortlessly execute all sorts of inspired shots, making him impossible to defend against.

Holding the world number one position and riding high on the momentum of winning the World Cup singles title, he is unstoppable.

Faced with such an opponent, Pitchford knew his chances of winning were slim.

However, he still held a do-or-die attitude and was not afraid at all, and fought against Chen Jin.

In competitive sports, who dares to claim they are invincible forever?

Although Pitchford harshly criticized the ITTF rules on his personal social media when the draw results were first announced.

However, he harbored no ill will towards Chen Jin; on the contrary, he felt a touch of admiration for him.

A sixteen-year-old boy has conquered the world of table tennis in less than a year.

With an undefeated record, they reached the top of the world rankings.

Such talent and strength are extremely rare, unprecedented, and unique.

It can be described as an unprecedented miracle in the world of table tennis.

Today, he has come to challenge this miracle.

"Table tennis originated in England, but we declined while it flourished elsewhere."

Pitchford clenched his fist inwardly. "As an English player, I must do my best to vindicate the birthplace of table tennis."

Think of this.

I glanced at the neighbor's house again.

Wang Hao was giving Chen Jin his final pre-match instructions, his voice low and urgent.

“The opponent is tall and has a large field of view, but the middle position is his fatal weakness.”

"If you can place the ball when receiving a serve, do so; if you can't, just poke it into the middle with a long ball."

"Pay attention to the transition to the next board; continuity is very important."

"Don't retreat from the table too easily. If you stay at close to mid-range, he'll try to outspeed and match your speed and consistency; you have no chance of winning..."

There was still more to say.

At that moment, the referee's voice came, reminding both players to come onto the field.

"come on!"

Wang Hao and Chen Jin high-fived. "Decisive, resolute, believe in yourself."

"Pay attention to continuity and connection."

Chen Jin nodded, took the towel, and walked towards the center of the field, standing in front of the referee.

The racket had already been placed on the table.

As is customary, after the rackets are sent for testing, they are kept by staff and sealed in a brown leather bag.

Before the match begins, the referee leads the team onto the field.

Chen Jin picked up his racket, habitually breathed on it, and wiped the racket face.

Sudden.

He seemed to have noticed something, and his brow furrowed.

However, when the player used a backhand topspin, a small piece of rubber failed to fit snugly against the blade, instead creating a noticeable crack.

In an instant, Chen Jin's heart sank to the bottom of the ocean.

"what happened?"

Chen Jin clearly remembers that he had checked the racket repeatedly before sending it for testing, and the racket face was intact and there was absolutely no problem.

It is even less likely that the glue will come off.

Upon closer inspection, the crack did not appear to be a natural crack; it seemed to have been deliberately and violently torn open by external force.

Moreover, the hole is very deep, which has seriously affected the sweet spot of the ball.

Undoubtedly, this situation was caused by the violent handling of the equipment by personnel at some stage of the testing process.

Perhaps it was an unintentional mistake, or perhaps...

Chen Jin didn't want to think about it too much.

With the game in the air, he didn't have time to think too much.

However, a racket with its rubber torn is clearly unusable for a match.

Mind this.

He immediately raised his hand to signal the referee to stop the game.

Then, he walked up to the referee.

Despite the language barrier, Chen Jin tried his best to remain calm and pointed to the torn part of the rubber to show the referee.

The referee was bald and very experienced.

He took the racket, examined it closely, and couldn't help but frown.

He understood what this meant and immediately signaled for the match to stop, then contacted the event organizing committee and technical staff via headset.

The rest area on the sidelines.

Wang Hao had just sat down when he saw the sudden situation. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stood up.

Walk around the sidelines and get behind the referee's table.

Through the barrier, Wang Hao asked, "Chen Jin, what happened?"

Chen Jin walked over and handed the racket to Wang Hao.

Wang Hao glanced at it once, and his face instantly darkened.

A familiar yet distant anger surged into my heart in an instant.

Fourteen years ago, in the men's singles final of the 2011 Rotterdam World Table Tennis Championships.

He also encountered almost the exact same situation before facing Zhang Jike.

As the players entered the arena and the match drew near, they discovered that their rackets were damaged and the rubber had been violently torn off.

Although Wang Hao did some emergency treatment at the time, he went to the toilet to re-attach the rubber and quickly dried it with a hairdryer.

However, this incident more or less affected his mentality and rhythm in the game.

Unexpectedly, a similar incident occurred again more than ten years later.

How could this not infuriate Wang Hao?

"You damn dog!"

Even a clay figure has some temper, and even Wang Hao, with his good temper, couldn't help but mutter a curse, "So many years have passed, and you haven't improved at all!"

He immediately stepped forward and personally negotiated with the referee, his emotions slightly agitated.

However, his foreign language skills were limited. He could only mix in some simple words, supplemented by hand gestures.

Communication breakdowns have led to a stalemate.

Pitchford knew what had happened, and he stood by, frowning, waiting for the outcome.

in the audience.

Zhang Jiahao was the first to notice something was wrong: "Huh? Why hasn't the competition started yet?"

"What are Jin and the referee talking about?"

"Why is Coach Wang here too?"

Xie Mingyang frowned, his eyes fixed on the commotion inside: "Something must have gone wrong."

Wang Liqin felt a chill run down his spine as a possibility suddenly occurred to him, and he immediately stood up.

"There might be something wrong with the racket."

Wang Liqin, with a serious expression, turned to Qin Zhijian beside him and said, "Quickly call the translator over, hurry!"

Qin Zhijian, also a seasoned veteran, did not hesitate for a moment, took out his phone, and contacted a translator.

at the same time.

Wang Liqin didn't sit idle either, and quickly walked onto the field.

However, he remained calm and composed as always, and asked, "What happened?"

"Chen Jin's racket may have had the rubber torn off during the testing process."

Wang Hao struggled to control his anger.

"Sure enough."

Wang Liqin frowned. "Don't rush, handle this calmly."

"Chen Jin, do you have a spare racket?"

Chen Jin nodded: "Yes."

Because the rackets are sent for testing, they may fail to meet the standards or have other problems.

Although the chances are slim, once you encounter it, it's 100%.

Therefore, whether it's for regular training or competitions, I always prepare two rackets, one for main use and one for secondary use.

Both rackets are exactly the same, from the specially designed blade to the forehand and backhand rubber configurations.

More importantly, Chen Jin has a habit of alternating between his main and secondary rackets during training, just in case.

Unexpectedly, it came in handy again today.

"That's good."

Wang Liqin made a quick decision: "Switch to the spare racket and continue the match."

"Don't think about anything right now. Your task is to play each ball well in front of you."

"Leave the rest to us."

His words were like a stabilizing force.

This immediately calmed Chen Jin's somewhat chaotic mind.

"it is good."

Chen Jin took a deep breath and nodded vigorously.

He turned and walked to the rest area on the sidelines, taking out a spare racket from his backpack.

He breathed on it and wiped the rubber.

This spare racket has the exact same configuration as the main racket.

But to be fair, even for top players, subtle differences in feel still exist.

Fortunately, Chen Jin used two rackets alternately during his training.

Furthermore, with his touch and skill, he can completely make up for the difference.

His only worry was that if the spare racket failed the test after the match, even if he won the game, his results would be invalidated.

Wang Liqin seemed to sense Chen Jin's worries and said in a deep voice, "Focus on the competition. Leave the rest to us."

"I will never let you suffer any injustice."

The match is imminent, like two armies clashing.

Chen Jin led his troops into battle and fought the enemy on the front lines. If the worries about the rear could not be resolved, wouldn't that chill the hearts of the soldiers?
"clear."

Chen Jin nodded.

At this moment.

The accompanying translator rushed over.

Organizing committee officials and technical representatives also arrived at the scene.

Wang Liqin and Qin Zhijian, accompanied by a translator, joined Wang Hao, their faces grim, to urgently negotiate.

"It's from Mr. Ge!"

Zhang Jiahao looked furious and stomped his feet in anger. "Someone must be jealous and deliberately messing with my brother Jin."

"Damn it, who is it? We have to find out and give them an explanation."

Ignoring Zhang Jiahao's grumbling, Xie Mingyang looked up at Chen Jin, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

Hopefully, Chen Jin's mindset won't be affected.

Xie Mingyang frowned.

However, such a thing happened so close to the start of the competition that anyone's mentality would be affected.

There is no doubt about this.

It all depends on how Chen Jin resolves this.

"If this affects Chen Jin and he loses the match, falling short in the round of 128..."

"I can't imagine what kind of public opinion storm we will face."

You should know that some fan groups are ruthless and can be quite vicious.

They were hoping Chen Jin would lose the match, and the worse he lost, the better.

They wouldn't care about anything else.

"To mess with my brother Jin and make him lose the game, they actually resorted to such despicable and underhanded tricks."

Zhang Jiahao gritted his teeth, wishing he could break his back teeth, making a grinding sound, "I believe in my Brother Jin, true gold fears no fire!"

While talking.

After some negotiation.

The referees finally received instructions from the organizing committee: "Compete first, then investigate."

The on-field incident has come to an end.

The game continues.

"It's alright."

Wang Hao comforted her, "Focus on the competition, don't overthink it, and don't worry about the backup racket testing. We've already discussed it with the organizing committee."

"come on!"

"Get excited!"

Now that things have come to this, Chen Jin knows perfectly well that the only thing he can do is focus on the game.

"Whoo~"

Take a deep breath and clear your mind of distractions.

Chen Jin strode onto the field.

He stood back in front of the referee, facing off against Pitchford.

As he shook hands, Pitchford asked in a low voice, "Chen, are you OK?"

"OK."

Chen Jin nodded in thanks, "Thank you."

immediately.

Toss a coin to guess who will go first.