Chapter 41 Chapter 41

There's a World Cup for shooting competitions? That's the first time I've heard of it.

[When is the competition? Why is there no publicity at all? I just found out Chu Xi is already competing in the World Cup.]

[Family, I found the address! It's live on Yuexin Video. The mixed team 10-meter air pistol qualifying round starts at 8 PM!]

I'll go take a look.

Driven by the traffic from the hot search, the number of downloads of Yuexin Video exceeded hundreds of thousands in just half an hour.

At this time, viewers had already begun pouring into the live broadcast room of the mixed team 10-meter air pistol shooting competition.

The live broadcast screen has been aimed at the shooting competition venue, but no players have entered yet.

Xu Yingzhe, the commentator already in the livestream, cleared his throat and began, "Hello everyone, I'm Xu Yingzhe, the commentator for this match. It's currently 8:00 AM local time in Catanto, and the players are warming up. The mixed team 10-meter air pistol qualifying round will officially begin in an hour, so stay tuned."

After the commentary, an advertisement was immediately inserted into the live broadcast room.

When the audience heard that the game would not start for another hour, they started to speak in the chat channel out of boredom.

I recently watched Chu Xi and a bunch of other celebrities participate in that shooting variety show. It was quite interesting. Let's see if the competition is more exciting.

[This is hilarious! It still has to be shooting. The Chinese national football team can't even qualify for the World Cup, so can our shooting team get a few more points?]

[Shooting is definitely a sure thing. Didn't we win the first gold medal in the last Olympics? Let's go eat first and then watch after the competition starts.]

At this time, everyone was lying at home and resting. There was nothing interesting to do anyway. When they heard that there was a competition, many netizens clicked into the live broadcast room of Yuexin Video via the Internet.

…

At this time, Chu Xi was still warming up at the Katantu shooting training ground.

She leaned her back against the wall and raised her hands to stretch her arm muscles.

Opposite him was Lu Wenxuan, who placed his hands on the ground and did several push-ups in succession, the muscle lines on his arms becoming clearer.

As the warm-up was almost over, Song Anshan strode in and said, "Let's go, let's go to the competition venue and prepare to wait."

Chu Xi had just finished warming up and her breathing was a little short. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, picked up the towel beside her and wiped the sweat off her face. She turned to look at Lu Wenxuan and said, "Let's go."

Lu Wenxuan stood up from the ground and patted the dust off his palms, "Let's go."

It’s only a seven or eight-minute drive from the training ground to the competition venue.

When Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan arrived at the scene to sign in, there were still fifty minutes before the game started.

"Relax. There are not many strong players in this World Cup. If there is pressure, it will be the players from other countries. You two will be fine." Song Anshan gently rubbed Lu Wenxuan's shoulders and patted him.

Then he turned to look at Chu Xi next to him, "Also, this time we're competing abroad, and the audience will definitely be the locals. Don't let that affect you. We've done similar real-life competition simulations before, and you should be fine. Relax and compete normally."

At this point, Song Anshan's guidance was no longer about technique, but more about mental adjustment and relaxation.

Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan looked at each other, and their expressions looked no different from usual.

But they all knew in their hearts that as the first event of the ISSF World Cup, the Chinese team must win.

This is the morale of a good start.

At the same time, in the live broadcast room of Yuexin Video, Xu Yingzhe began to briefly introduce the information of the contestants to netizens.

"Lu Wenxuan joined the national team two years ago in the men's 10m air pistol event. He has considerable competition experience. In the first half of last year, he made it directly to the national first team at the team trials. He subsequently represented China at the World Championships, the Asian Championships, and various other international competitions, winning two gold medals, one silver, and one bronze medal. Prior to that, his debut was in the men's 10m air pistol final at the National Games. His outstanding performance caught the attention of the national team and set him on the path to competing for his country."

"But the national team has now changed to a temporary training team before each major competition, so after the competition is over, Lu Wenxuan should return to the Kyoto Provincial Shooting Team to continue training."

Xu Yingzhe lowered his head and turned to Chu Xi's information sheet.

Of course, he knew Chu Xi better, and could tell everything about her without even looking at the information.

Because Chu Xi's competition experience is really pitifully limited.

"The second competitor in the mixed team competition is Chu Xi. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this name. That's right, Chu Xi is from the Kyoto Provincial Shooting Team, specializing in the women's 10-meter air pistol event. Before that, she was an entertainer."

"Although her status is rather unique, her strength is undeniable. Despite the recent suspension, her mentality remained unaffected. In the new round of competition trials, she delivered outstanding and consistent results, securing her spots in both the women's 10-meter air pistol and mixed team events."

"To represent the country and compete in the World Cup, athletes need to earn this qualification through competition. Their strength represents the best of China. So I believe that Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan will definitely bring us a wonderful game today."

More and more netizens and viewers poured into the live broadcast room.

They started typing and chatting.

I just checked out the other contestants, and I heard that Lee Ye-eun from the Korean team is quite impressive, having won many gold medals in international competitions last year. On the Chinese side, besides Xue Yaning and another national team, neither of them can compare to Lee Ye-eun.

【It should be okay to be in a mixed group? 】

The mixed team situation is even worse. Besides the Korean team, the host team, Catantuan, is actually quite strong. Furthermore, since they're competing in their own country, they'll definitely be more relaxed mentally. This advantage isn't available to players from other countries.

"Don't worry, trust the Chinese team! Our shooting program has always been the most stable! Last year, with so many top athletes, didn't China also win the first Olympic gold medal?!"

Time passes by minute by minute.

There is only half an hour left before the qualifying round begins.

Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan were notified to prepare for pre-match test shooting.

The audience seats at the Katantu shooting competition venue were packed with people, and many local people held the Katantu flag in their hands and cheered excitedly.

Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan stood at the entrance of the venue.

Both of them turned their heads to look at the audience seats around them.

The flag of the Catantuan nation is a strip of blue and green. Looking over, the entire auditorium is filled with fluttering blue and green.

"I attended the last Olympics. Even though the competition was held in a foreign country, the stadium was filled with red national flags, which was particularly dazzling." Lu Wenxuan looked out at the audience and said with emotion, "At that time, I thought about how glorious it would be if I could stand on the Olympic stage."

Chu Xi nodded, "It's quite glorious."

She will never forget the moment when she shot the last shot to win the championship and saw the whole stadium waving red national flags.

"Let's go, it's time for us to enter." Chu Xi withdrew his gaze and his heart gradually calmed down.

The images of the contestants entering the venue one after another were broadcast simultaneously to the Yuexin Video Live Room.

Xu Yingzhe's voice was filled with anticipation. "The Chinese team's players have entered the arena. Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan are both wearing red sportswear, a symbol of Chinese culture. Their faces show no signs of emotion; their mentality is very stable."

I just scanned the World Cup venue, and there wasn't a single Chinese spectator. What's going on? Aren't we supposed to be Chinese all over the world?

I guess not many people pay attention to the Shooting World Cup. In previous years, I didn't really watch the shooting events, at most I'd just take a look at the Chinese national football team, hahahahaha.

If I hadn't seen this trending topic, I wouldn't have known there was a World Cup for shooting. I thought shooting was only held at the Olympics.

Shooting is so unpopular, mainly because there's nothing to watch. It's just a bunch of people standing around shooting guns. It's nothing to watch. It's not as good as table tennis or basketball, which are much more exciting to watch. If I hadn't been so excited about that shooting variety show a while ago, I wouldn't have paid much attention to shooting.

At this time, the number of people online in the live broadcast room at the same time has reached 700,000.

Compared with the data of live broadcasts of sports competitions, this number is already very good.

But compared with the popularity of entertainment variety shows, it is still a little behind.

Just before the game was about to begin, several commercial advertisements were inserted into the live broadcast room.

By the time the long commercial ended, the contestants had already stood in front of their respective shooting positions, waiting for the competition to begin.

"The two athletes standing at shooting position A are from the host nation of Catantuan. The female athlete is Mingentina, and the male athlete is Rekhos. They both won fourth place in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol at last year's ISSF World Cup. They are both very strong competitors."

…

"The two shooters in the D shooting position are from South Korea. Lee Ye-eun and Kang Hyuk-jae are a pairing that everyone should be familiar with. Lee Ye-eun won the silver medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol at the last Olympics when she was only 18 years old. Kang Hyuk-jae is probably a newcomer this year, and this is his first international competition."

"Finally, the contestants for position H are from China, Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan."

After this introduction, the competition began.

The referee on the scene began to read out the rules and requirements of the competition in English with a local accent.

A few minutes later, he gestured to indicate that the game had begun and that preparations for shooting were in order.

At the same time, the electronic results screen above the competition venue lit up, and the rankings of all the player combinations currently on the field appeared one after another.

The local spectators in the auditorium also raised their hands and cheered excitedly. For a moment, the entire shooting range was filled with all kinds of noisy sounds.

A few years ago, in order to attract more spectators to shooting ranges, the International Shooting Federation officially changed the rules to allow spectators to cheer and applaud at shooting competitions, and even to play music during the competition.

Therefore, the Chinese shooting team started to conduct noise interference adaptation training for shooting athletes very early on.

During normal training, when other team members have no tasks, they will go to the audience seats to act as spectators, clapping and shouting, and even using various small loudspeaker props to make noises.

Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan each lowered their heads and held their guns, not affected by the cheers from the audience at all.

"The rules for the mixed team qualifying round are different from those for the individual events. In this qualifying round, athletes on the same team will each have thirty minutes to complete twenty-five shots. Each team will shoot a total of fifty shots, and the overall ranking will be calculated. The top eight teams will advance to the finals."

"Now, the contestants will first conduct a ten-minute test shooting training."

After Chu Xi loaded the bullets, he took a deep breath, slowly raised the arm holding the gun, and turned his head to look forward.

When it comes to official competitions, she habitually does not wear any earplugs or noise-canceling earmuffs.

Neither earplugs nor earmuffs can achieve absolute noise isolation. On the contrary, both of them will cause the players' ears to feel uncomfortable as if there is a foreign body in their ears. This feeling is more disturbing than the noise.

In addition, the national team usually does noise interference training. In comparison, Chu Xi and many players on the Chinese team are more accustomed to not wearing earmuffs.

The live broadcast camera gave a close-up of Chu Xi.

She lay sideways, her left hand in the pocket of her sweatpants, her right hand holding the air pistol steadily, as if she was still, motionless, aiming forward.

“Click—”

Gunshots rang out and Chu Xi fired the first shot.

This is a pre-match test shoot, and the results will not be announced to the outside world for the time being.

The contestant can see the shooting results of his or her shot through the results display on the shooting table.

10.3 rings.

Chu Xi put down the gun, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and readjusted his shooting posture.

After a few minutes, other players on the field also began to test shoot.

Soon, ten minutes of test firing passed.

The contestants put down their pistols one after another and prepared to enter the formal competition.

"It's started! The first match of the Shooting World Cup, the 10-meter air pistol mixed team competition is about to begin." Xu Yingzhe received the competition signal and spoke excitedly as soon as he received it.

The netizens who were originally chatting stopped and started watching the game.

Yuexin Video directly broadcasts the official filming footage of Catantu.

Their first set of close-up shots were of their own contestants, Mingentina and Rekhos from the Catantu team.

Mingentina has blonde hair tied into a high ponytail. She has a pair of light green eyes and three-dimensional facial features that reveal the contestant's sharp temperament.

After aiming for nearly ten seconds, Mingentina fired the first shot: 10.3 rings.

"Mingentina from the Catantuan team shot a 10.3. She was more relaxed on the court. Meanwhile, her teammate Rekhos shot a 10.5 in the last round. Both players are more mentally stable than in the last World Cup."

It's clear that these two players are under less pressure. But since they're competing in their own country, they must be more relaxed.

[There's no way around it. This is the advantage of athletes from the host country.]

[Don't worry, China is definitely more stable and will definitely be number one.]

Afterwards, the live camera of the game turned to Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan.

The two men had just raised their guns and were still aiming.

From the camera footage, Chu Xi's arms were so stable that they seemed to be frozen in place, even his breathing seemed to have stopped, and there was almost no movement in his chest.

"Chu Xi took the lead in shooting!" Xu Yingzhe stared at the electronic screen showing the results.

A second later, Chu Xi's shooting score popped up: 10.6 rings.

"10.6! Chu Xi is truly a consistent scorer! Although this is her first time participating in a formal international competition, she hasn't fallen behind other veteran players due to her lack of experience. Instead, she's become more courageous with each setback."

"Lu Wenxuan also completed the shooting just now, and also scored 10.6!"

After this round of shooting ended, Xu Yingzhe felt relieved.

At first, he was quite worried that Chu Xi might perform unsteadily because it was her first time participating in an international competition.

Now it seems that he was worrying too much.

"The shooting time limit is 30 minutes, and you have to complete 25 shots. On average, you have to fire one shot every minute. This is also a test for the shooting contestants."

"Now, the camera is on Lee Ye-eun and Kang Hyuk-jae from the South Korean team. In the last round, they shot 10.7 and 10.4 respectively, currently ranking second. First place goes to Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan from the Chinese team."

"Lee Ruien is preparing to shoot." Xu Yingzhe's voice gradually lowered, and he began to wait for the results of this shot.

"10.3. Lee Ye-eun looked a little dissatisfied. It seems she sets high standards for herself."

"Kang Hyukjae's shot was pretty good, 10.6."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden burst of enthusiastic cheers and applause at the competition venue.

The camera then shifted to the two players from the Catantuan team.

Xu Yingzhe was slightly surprised when he saw the results. "Ryan Tina just shot 10.8, and her teammate also shot 10.7. We heard a lot of noise at the competition venue. I wonder if this will affect the shooting of other athletes."

[I'm speechless. Why is it so noisy here? I can even hear applause in the livestream. How noisy must it be at the scene?]

[Are there no rules for shooting competitions anymore? The noise and shouting are a bit outrageous.]

[This has been changed a long time ago. Now, shooting competitions can even play music while the competition is underway. The purpose is to increase distractions for the shooters and make the competition more interesting.]

[Then why didn't Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan wear earplugs or earmuffs? This will greatly affect the game.]

Xu Yingzhe saw the comments in the live broadcast room discussing Chu Xi and the other player not wearing earplugs, and immediately explained with a smile: "Everyone may be a little confused about the fact that our Chinese players don't wear earmuffs. It's actually very simple. I remember seeing Chu Xi in an interview on CCTV some time ago saying that the foreign body sensation caused by wearing earmuffs and earplugs would actually affect her concentration when shooting and aiming, so she's used to not wearing earmuffs during official competitions."

"As far as I know, the Chinese shooting team also conducts noise interference training for athletes during normal training. It can be said that our Chinese team's athletes are all battle-hardened. Since they don't wear them, they must be confident in their ability. We just trust them."

At the same time, Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan began to prepare to fire the fifth shot.

Current player rankings:

First place, Catantuan team, 84.8 rings

Second place, China, 84.4 rings

Third place, South Korea, 84.1 rings

…

[I'm shocked. Are the differences in shooting competitions calculated using decimal points? A difference of 0.4 rings, wouldn't that mean one wrong shot in the later stages would be enough to wipe out the opponent?]

[So it doesn't matter how good you are in the early stages of a shooting competition. Sometimes, there will be players who catch up all the way in the later stages. Shooting competitions are still exciting, hahahaha.]

[No wonder I can't participate in the shooting competition. If it were me, I would miss the target and be killed immediately. Hahahahaha.]