Chapter 23 Chapter 23
When the voice reached Wang Xingwen's ears, he was stunned.
First in the qualifying round? Did he hear it wrong?
The other team members around were also stunned for a moment, and then looked at Jiang Wannan in confusion.
Jiang Wannan had already dragged Chu Xi to the dining table. She proudly pushed Chu Xi in front of her and repeated, "Chu Xi won first place in the women's 10-meter air pistol qualifying round, scoring four rings higher than Lu Meng. Impressive, isn't it?"
Wang Xingwen finally reacted, his brows filled with shock. He looked at Chu Xi, "First in the qualifying round? How did you do that?"
Women's 10-meter air pistol has always been their team's weakest event.
Therefore, the first, second and third place are basically taken by players from other shooting teams and national teams all year round.
But now Chu Xi is able to surpass other veteran players and take first place?
The other team members also looked at Chu Xi in disbelief.
Even they might not be able to get first place in the qualifying round.
But they are all veteran athletes who have trained in the shooting team for several years.
Chu Xi, a newcomer who hasn't even joined the shooting team yet, is actually more stable than the veteran players?
"Yes, I'm also curious about how you did it." Jiang Wannan looked at Chu Xi with a smile.
Chu Xi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Just treat it as a normal game."
Jiang Wannan and the other team members exchanged glances, then smiled bitterly, feeling somewhat shocked.
If they could get first place in the qualifying round, they would be so happy that they would take off on the spot.
But Chu Xi looked like he was just doing a small thing, which made people... feel inferior.
Wang Xingwen suppressed his emotions and calmly observed Chu Xi's every move.
He would think more about it.
Chu Xi must have a talent for shooting to be able to be personally invited by Wang Ruiguo for a trial, so it is normal that she can shine in the qualifying round.
But whether she can become a professional athlete depends on whether she can maintain her composure.
In the field of sports and competitive sports, there are many geniuses, but there are also many geniuses who die prematurely.
Therefore, Chu Xi's performance in tomorrow's final will be more crucial.
…
As night falls, the crescent moon climbs up to the treetops and plays a game of hide-and-seek in the clouds.
Chu Xi had just finished washing up and lying on the bed when she received a call from Hu Yanming:
"Sister, you have finished the qualifying round today, right? How was it?" Hu Yanming asked cautiously from the opposite side.
Chu Xi nodded, "Advanced, the finals will be tomorrow."
Hu Yanming immediately shouted in surprise, "You really advanced! That's great!"
After the excitement subsided, Hu Yanming quickly calmed down and consoled him earnestly, "But don't put too much pressure on yourself. For a national competition like this, it's already incredible that we've made it to the finals. It's truly incredible, so it doesn't matter what place we get in the finals. Just give it your all, and that's all that matters."
Hu Yanming actually never dared to think that Sister Xi could make it to the finals.
He looked up information and found that this National Shooting Championship was already a large-scale domestic event. Many professional athletes from provincial teams would participate, and even in previous years, some national team players would participate.
Sister Xi is really amazing! As an amateur contestant, she was able to withstand the pressure and rush into the finals!
Hu Yanming's grin was so wide that it couldn't be closed. "Sister, you should have a good rest tonight. Don't think too much. We just need to perform well tomorrow. As for the online things, the heat has died down now. Just focus on the competition."
"Okay." Chu Xi responded, said hello, and hung up the phone.
She yawned tiredly, put down her phone, lay down on the bed, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
After a while, her breathing slowed down.
…
On the day of the 10-meter women's air pistol final, the shooting stadium became lively.
Reporters specializing in covering sports events rushed to the shooting competition venue early in the morning in order to be the first to capture the exclusive footage of the moment the champion was born.
After they entered the venue, they set up cameras outside the competition venue one after another, and all the lenses were aimed at the competition scene.
In addition, audience members also started to enter the auditorium.
"I'm on a business trip in Linhai City now. I'll talk about the meeting and other things after I get back. Okay, that's it for now." Yu Wanya said as she walked with her mobile phone in her hand, an LV tote bag slung over her shoulder.
After hanging up the phone, Yu Wanya found a seat and sat down, put her bag on her legs, and looked up at the competition venue below.
This time she came on a business trip specifically to watch the shooting competition.
Recently, she has helped the Jiyue brand sign many potential athletes as endorsements.
But she has not yet finalized the candidate for the endorsement of the shooting project.
This national shooting championship basically gathered the younger and more outstanding athletes in the country. Yu Wanya planned to find some potential ones among this group to sign.
Of course, the talents on the national team are better, but many of the favorites to win the championship have been signed by rival teams.
Yu Wanya could only settle for the second best and look for someone in the provincial team.
If she really gets lucky and signs a player who wins the championship unexpectedly, just like Hongke did before, then it won’t be a loss.
After a while, the assistant sent the information to Yu Wanya.
Yu Wanya took out her cell phone and clicked on the file.
It briefly introduces the players who are quite strong in this competition and have the potential to join the national team in the future.
Among them, Lu Meng and Jiang Wannan's names were at the top of the list.
Assistant: [Director, you can focus on Lu Meng and Jiang Wannan. They've consistently performed well in competitions and are very likely to be selected for the national team this year. If they can make it to the first national team within two years, their chances of representing the team at the Olympics will be very high.]
Yu Wanya: [Okay, got it.]
She quickly flipped through the information and wrote down the two names.
Just as she was about to close the file, she suddenly caught sight of a familiar name.
"Chu Xi?" Yu Wanya said doubtfully.
Why did she remember that there seemed to be an artist with the same name who had collaborated with their brand before?
Yu Wanya shook her head, probably because they had the same name.
…
Chu Xi has already arrived at the training venue and started warming up.
The other players around were all advanced from yesterday's qualifying round. While warming up, they secretly looked at Chu Xi.
After the qualifying round yesterday, Chu Xi went straight back to the dormitory to rest.
Others who wanted to get to know Chu Xi couldn't find an opportunity.
But today is the final, and everyone is a competitor, so it is not appropriate to make friends with each other at this time.
After thinking about it, the contestants withdrew their gazes and continued to concentrate on warming up.
The audience seats at the competition venues gradually became lively, and most of the people were fans who paid close attention to sports competitions.
"Did you hear about the unexpected dark horse player who emerged from yesterday's qualifying round? Apparently, he registered as an individual."
"Huh? I didn't even pay attention to the qualifiers. Aren't they all veteran players? And a dark horse newcomer pops up?"
"Even Lu Meng only got second place in the qualifying round. I don't know what happened to the other two stronger players, they only got fifth and eighth place in the qualifying round."
Fans in the competitive circle usually pay close attention to major competitions and naturally understand the strength of these players.
When they heard that a dark horse had crushed so many veteran players and won first place in the qualifying round, they were all a little surprised.
However, they soon came to the conclusion, "Perhaps these veteran players didn't perform to their full potential. Anyway, it's just the qualifying rounds; as long as they can advance, that's fine."
"We'll know after we see."
After a while, Wang Xingwen quietly led the team members who had no competition tasks into the audience seats.
"Coach, do you think Chu Xi has a chance to make it into the top three today?" the team member asked curiously.
Wang Xingwen frowned, his expression much more serious than yesterday. "It's hard to say. Although she ranked first in the qualifying round yesterday, the pressure in the finals is different from the qualifying rounds, and the rules are different too. It puts a greater test on the players' mentality."
The other veteran players all have rich experience in competitions, and their performance will not be affected even in the finals.
But Chu Xi is a newcomer after all.
Her performance yesterday was probably due to her talent. Today is the final, and if she can't withstand the pressure of the final, she may make mistakes.
But the fact that Chu Xi ranked first in the qualifying round has already confirmed that he has a talent for shooting, and other mental issues can be cultivated later.
Wang Xingwen came here today mainly to see how Chu Xi's psychological quality is in the competition.
Before the finals were about to begin, the commentators arrived. Xu Yingzhe, dressed in a dark suit, sat on the podium and said, "Ahem, sound check."
The broadcast slowly spread throughout the shooting range.
The audience at the scene immediately realized that the commentary was in place and the final was about to begin.
"Hello everyone, I'm commentator Xu Yingzhe. As we all know, shooting has always been a major gold medal winner for our country at the Olympics. In recent years, more and more fans have begun to pay attention to shooting events. I believe that the audience here today are also very passionate about this sport."
"Today will be the National Shooting Championships, the women's 10-meter air pistol final."
"There's still half an hour until the final begins. I'll be bringing you commentary on the matches then."
Chu Xi and others entered the competition venue one after another.
The contestants' photos and information appeared one by one on the big broadcast screen, presented to the audience.
Yu Wanya raised her eyes and glanced at the screen, which happened to show Chu Xi's personal information and photos.
She was stunned.
Wait, isn't this Chu Xi who came to the company to shoot the endorsement promotional video last time?
Yu Wanya thought she was hallucinating. She strained her eyes and stared at the screen again.
That's right, it's her.
Yu Wanya sat in her seat in a daze, and turned her gaze to the competition field with an incredible look on her face.
Chu Xi was standing in front of the shooting position making preparations before the game.
Although the distance was far, she recognized her at a glance. It was the Chu Xi she had met at the company last time.
No, she's an entertainer, why is she participating in a shooting competition?
"We can see Chu Xi's profile and photo on the screen. This Chu Xi is the dark horse who won first place in the qualifying round yesterday. Furthermore, she is the only contestant who registered as an individual in this competition. Her performance is very worth looking forward to."
Xu Yingzhe's commentary slowly spread throughout the venue.
"A contestant who registered for the competition in his or her own capacity?" There was an exclamation from the audience.
"And won first place in the qualifying round?"
"She's a true shooting genius. Even veteran players like Lu Meng were outperformed by her in the qualifying rounds."
"Competitive sports are not short of talent, so it's better not to praise people too much."
Yu Wanya looked at Chu Xi's figure on the field in astonishment.
She thought it was amazing that Chu Xi could make it to the finals.
As a result, he made it to the finals yesterday with the first place in the qualifying round.
After thinking of something, Yu Wanya looked at Chu Xi with a little more admiration in her eyes.
It's not the kind of event that ordinary amateurs can reach the finals.
Chu Xi must have taken a lot of time to do professional training.
An artist can sacrifice his main job and choose to calm down and delve into his own interests and hobbies.
Even if you are not a professional athlete, this kind of courage is still worthy of admiration.
"Strange... Why does this Chu Xi look familiar to me? He looks exactly like some celebrity." An audience member muttered nearby.
…
Chu Xi put on noise-canceling earplugs, lowered his head, closed his eyes and completely immersed himself in his own world, blocking out all the noise coming from the surrounding audience seats.
The other players around him did the same thing.
The finals will still bring a certain amount of pressure to the contestants, so during the pre-match preparation stage, the contestants will avoid thinking about anything related to the finals.
Time passed by minute by minute.
"We can see that the contestants are maintaining a stable standing posture, standing in front of the shooting position waiting for the competition to begin. For shooting athletes, this boring standing training is repeated every day. It is precisely because of these accumulations that they can calmly shoot ten-ring shots one after another on the field." Xu Yingzhe explained silently.
He has been commentating on shooting competitions for nearly seven or eight years.
Because he knows too well about the daily life of shooting athletes, he has always admired these players from the bottom of his heart. Every time he comments on a game, he will explain to the audience the daily training of some shooting athletes with sincere feelings.
Half an hour later, the final is about to begin.
The referee took his position and announced, "The women's 10-meter air pistol final begins."
At the same time, two electronic screens in the stadium began to broadcast the players' competition in real time.
Xu Yingzhe also introduced the rules of this round of the finals to the audience: "In the first two rounds, each round consists of five shots. After the two rounds, the top eight players in terms of total score will enter the elimination round. The elimination rule is that after every two shots, the total score is calculated and the last-ranked player is eliminated until the final champion is determined."
When the game started, the first person to appear on the broadcast screen was Chu Xi.
She was wearing noise-canceling earplugs and looking straight ahead with eyes without any emotion. She raised her arm steadily and pointed the gun in one hand towards the target paper.
"Contestant Chu Xi has begun aiming and shooting. As the dark horse competitor who finished first in the qualifying round, the answer to her first shot in the final will be revealed soon."
After saying that, Xu Yingzhe also turned his gaze to Chu Xi, waiting for her to shoot.
Before he came, he was also surprised when he heard that a dark horse player suddenly broke through the siege in the qualifying round.
After all, such large-scale competitions are basically participated by veteran provincial team players, and there will generally not be any major unexpected situations.
"Click--" A gunshot rang out, and Chu Xi completed the first shot.
10.5 rings.
"Beautiful! In the first shot of the final, Chu Xi shot a great score of 10.5. Perhaps she will repeat her outstanding performance in the qualifying round today."
Xu Yingzhe also began to respect Chu Xi more in his heart.
The first shot in the finals should be a heavy burden for the contestants.
As Chinese people, we value a good start.
If the first shot goes well, the psychological burden will be less later.
Then, the scene on the broadcast screen switched to Lu Meng.
Lu Meng had just finished his first shooting: 10.7 rings.
This result is very close to the full ring, 0.2 rings higher than Chu Xi.
Xu Yingzhe continued, "Our veteran athlete Lu Meng lived up to expectations, shooting an impressive 10.7 in her first shot. In yesterday's qualifying round, Lu Meng placed second. We wonder what kind of performance she'll have today? Let's keep an eye on her."
Time flies.
After the broadcast was completed, the first round of shooting also ended.
The contestants' ring rankings were released and slowly appeared on another large screen.
Currently, Chu Xi is ranked first with a score of 52.4 rings.
Lu Meng ranked second with a score of 52.3 rings.
The third player's score: 51.6 rings.
Xu Yingzhe looked at the rankings with a hint of surprise. "After the first round, the difference between the top two players was only 0.1 ring. Judging from this result, Chu Xi and Lu Meng both shot above ten rings in their group."
"Of course, the third-place shooter's shooting performance is also very good. I hope she can continue to maintain her performance."
After a short break, the referee announced the start of the second round of shooting.
Chu Xi slowly took the bullet and put it into the gun, his expression calm to the extreme. The moment he raised the gun and looked up, a cold light flashed in his eyes.
Shooting is not a very competitive sport.
In this sport, players need to defeat themselves rather than their opponents.
Chu Xi closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing rhythm, opened his eyes again, looked straight ahead with sharp eyes, and pulled the trigger to shoot.
10.9 rings!
"Chu Xi actually scored 10.9 in this round! This is the highest score in the shooting competition!" Xu Yingzhe explained in surprise.
The fans in the audience began to get a little restless.
"This Chu Xi does seem to be something. But why have I never heard of her before?"
"Yeah, she's so talented at shooting, shouldn't she have been discovered and recruited by the shooting team long ago? Why is she still a solo competitor?"
"Oh my god, she even shot 10.9. This is the finals, she has great mental fortitude. I feel like she's on the same level as veteran players like Lu Meng."
Yu Wanya beside her also opened her mouth slightly.
She had just thought that it was already Chu Xi's limit to make it to the finals.
After all, his main job is an artist, and it is very good that his hobby can develop into this.
As a result, now, 10.9 rings have been scored?
Is Chu Xi's main occupation an artist or a shooting athlete?
The second round of shooting is over.
Chu Xi ranked first with a score of 105.6 rings.
The second place is Lu Meng, with a score of 105.1 rings.
The third contestant scored 104.5 rings.
The audience at the scene was even more shocked after seeing this ranking.
"This dark horse player is so consistent. I thought she'd miss a few shots in the finals, but she hasn't missed a single one yet??"
"No, I was just thinking of searching online to see if Chu Xi had participated in any competitions before, but... it turned out that she seemed to be an entertainer."
"Pfft, you searched for the wrong person, is it the same name as mine?"
"No, there are all these photos. Chu Xi is just an artist, but she's not that famous. I didn't even know she was a star."
“…”
The discussion in the audience fell silent for a while.
Yu Wanya listened to the discussions of the people around her and fell silent, holding her forehead.
In fact, she is now beginning to doubt Chu Xi's identity.
On the other side, Wang Xingwen and the members of the shooting team were also caught in a solemn atmosphere.
After a few seconds, the player asked, "Coach, what do you think now?"
Wang Xingwen looked at Chu Xi's figure in the field and was silent for a long time before he spoke: "She is indeed extraordinary."
When Wang Ruiguo told him that Chu Xi was extraordinary, he thought that Wang Ruiguo had a filter for her.
Now it seems that he really had wronged Wang Ruiguo.
The team members also had complicated feelings.
How should I put it? Before yesterday, everyone thought Chu Xi might be their future junior sister.
But judging from the current situation, their future junior sister may very likely become the legendary big devil who tramples on countless geniuses and kills people along the way.
There is no shortage of talented people in the sports industry, and this is something everyone knows.
For a moment, silence swept the entire stand.
“…”
Originally, Wang Xingwen had planned to comfort Chu Xi later, but now he realized that the most important thing to do was to stabilize the mentality of the old team members.
"Don't be too pessimistic. Even geniuses are not perfect. Don't underestimate Chu Xi's current strength. She may make mistakes in the future. Maybe her next shot will be less than a ten-ring."
As he finished speaking, Chu Xi scored another 10.8 points.
Team members: “…”
Forget it, coach, stop comforting me, we understand.
Wang Xingwen stopped talking and looked down at Chu Xi in the competition venue.
At an angle that the team members couldn't see, Wang Xingwen's mouth corners couldn't help but rise wildly.
Women's 10-meter air pistol has always been their team's weak event.
Now that fresh blood has finally appeared, how can he not be excited!
"The elimination rules in shooting competitions are both thrilling and brutal. With one competitor eliminated every two shots, the athletes have very little room for error. A single misjudgment can mean disqualification from competing for a medal, which undoubtedly puts enormous pressure on the athletes."
Xu Yingzhe's calm gaze swept across the competition scene. "There are still eight contestants left. They have just finished their first shot. After the second shot, the eighth-placed contestant will be eliminated."
"Now, let's take a look at Chu Xi's shooting."
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