Chapter 42 Chapter 42
Xu Yingzhe continued to educate the audience in the livestream: "To increase the accuracy and excitement of the competition, the International Shooting Federation officially changed its rules last year. In international competitions, qualifying rounds and finals must now count rings to one decimal place. Of course, some competitions still retain the rule of only counting bare rings in qualifying rounds."
"Similarly, due to the changed calculation rules, at last year's World Shooting Championships, Lee Ye-eun from South Korea broke the world record for women's 10-meter air pistol in the qualifying round. To date, it has not been broken by any other competitor."
Lu Wenxuan raised the gun expressionlessly, slowly raised his arm upwards, and then lowered it, keeping it parallel to his line of sight.
No one knew what he was thinking, but the hearts of all the viewers in front of the live broadcast room seemed to be grasped by invisible hands.
The atmosphere was tense and anxious.
When the gunshot rang out, Lu Wenxuan slowly put down the gun, lowered his eyes, closed them, adjusted his state and began to prepare for the next shot.
A second later, the shooting result popped up: 10.7 rings.
"10.7! It seems that both Chinese players are mentally stable. The noise from the audience didn't affect their performance."
"Now, let's take a look at Chu Xi's shooting."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xi also pulled the trigger. His slender fingers rested on the trigger, and the slight movement was not even captured by the camera.
The shooting results came out quickly: 10.8 rings.
"Chu Xi scored 10.8 in this shot!" Xu Yingzhe's voice could not hide his excitement.
In shooting competitions, stability in the later stages is certainly more important, but being able to achieve an absolute advantage in the early stages can also slightly reduce the psychological burden on the players.
At the end of this round of shooting, the score ranking was reversed.
First place, China, 105.9
Second place, Catantuan team, 105.4 rings
Third place, South Korea, 105.2 rings
"We can see that the score difference on the field is still quite tight. Each player has 20 shots left, and each shot has the potential to change the ranking again. We hold our breath and continue to look forward to the next performance of the Chinese players."
Xu Yingzhe breathed a sigh of relief and his emotions gradually calmed down.
Seeing their country's athlete drop to second place, the audience began to feel discouraged.
When the two players from Catantu saw the score change, they frowned noticeably.
But soon, the two lowered their heads and readjusted their state.
A new round of shooting began, and all the contestants regained their expressionless state, raising their guns and aiming to shoot.
Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan's performance has remained stable, which made the netizens watching the live broadcast feel very happy.
But by the seventeenth shot, Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan shot 10.5 and 10.3 rings respectively.
The leading team, Catantu, shot 10.9 and 10.6 rings.
This time the gap has once again brought Catantuan back to first place.
The moment the results were announced, the audience was instantly excited. Some excited audiences even stood up, raised their hands and their country's flags, and cheered.
Catanto is not a sports powerhouse. The number of events where it can win medals in the Olympics every year can be counted on one hand, and shooting is one of them.
Unfortunately, in last year's Catantuan mixed team shooting competition, they finally finished fourth in the finals.
Most of the other events only won bronze medals.
So when it was decided to hold this Shooting World Cup in Katantu, the people were very enthusiastic, so much so that today's competition venue was almost full.
The corners of Mingentina's lips rose slightly, and she felt a little relieved.
As the host country of the World Cup, they enjoy a great advantage.
This time, they will win a gold medal no matter what.
On-field score ranking:
First place, Catantuan team, 178.5 rings
Second place, China, 178.1 rings
Third place, South Korea, 177.8 rings
[Holy crap! Such a sudden reversal? This was too sudden, just one shot.]
[Oh, don't be nervous, it's only second place, you can still catch up later.]
[It's normal. Catantu's local players have an advantage. They may have been training at this competition venue for a year and are very familiar with the lighting and environment. Moreover, since it's their own country, they are more relaxed.]
Xu Yingzhe continued his commentary, "The Chinese team is currently in second place, just 0.4 rings behind first place. Each team has eight remaining shooting opportunities. In fact, in the first stage of qualifying, we only need to secure a top-eight finish to advance to the second stage and continue our pursuit of gold and bronze medal matches. So far, the Chinese players are performing very consistently."
The rules for mixed team competitions are different from those for individual events.
The mixed team qualifying round is divided into two stages.
The first stage will still see the top eight teams advance.
After advancing to the second stage, the scores of the eight teams in the previous round were reset to zero, and each team of male and female players shot twenty shots again, and the total score of forty shots was finally calculated.
The first and second-placed teams will advance to tomorrow's gold medal match, while the third and fourth-placed teams will advance to the bronze medal match.
So whether the team can win the gold medal will be decided in today's qualifying round.
The pressure on the players is undoubtedly enormous.
Xu Yingzhe suppressed his nervousness and continued watching.
Chu Xi held the air pistol steadily in his arm.
After taking aim, he pulled the trigger and fired the eighteenth shot: 10.6 rings.
She exhaled slightly, lowered the gun, closed her eyes and readjusted her shooting posture.
In my ears, I could hear the constant cheers from the audience.
Chu Xi closed his eyes and focused his thoughts completely on the gun in his hand. At that moment, the sound in his ears seemed to become smaller, and all the noise was blocked out of his ears.
When he opened his eyes again, a ray of determination flashed in Chu Xi's eyes.
She slowly raised her arm, aimed the gun at the bull's eye in front of her, and prepared to shoot.
"10.7! Lu Wenxuan scored 10.7 in that last shot! The two Chinese players are trying hard to catch up with the Catantuan team. We—"
Xu Yingzhe suddenly stopped talking halfway, his pupils dilated instantly, and then his voice became excited.
"Chinese team player Chu Xi shot a perfect 10.9! She is the first player to achieve a perfect score in this World Cup qualifier!"
All the audience in the live broadcast room became excited.
However, the excitement didn't last more than two seconds, and the next second, something changed on the field.
"Surprisingly, the Catantuan player also performed exceptionally well this round, shooting scores of 10.8 and 10.7. Since the start of the qualifying round, the Catantuan player has performed exceptionally well in almost every round, and the enthusiasm of the Catantuan spectators was also very high."
First place, Catantuan team, 220.6 rings
Second place, China, 220.4 rings
Third place, South Korea, 220 rings
I thought this round of shooting would be a chance for the Chinese team to make a comeback, but I didn't expect Catantu to perform even better.
No wonder people don't watch shooting competitions that much. This is so exciting. My heart almost stopped.
[How many guns are left? Is there any chance that this ranking will change? ]
[It's okay. The top eight in the first qualifying round will advance anyway, and then they'll qualify for the gold and bronze medal matches.]
When it came to the last few shots, Xu Yingzhe spoke less and only occasionally reported the results.
South Korea's Lee Ye-eun's performance is becoming more and more stable.
Although their team has always been ranked third, the gap between them and the top two is not very big.
They just need to wait for the two players in front to make a mistake, and then they can seize the opportunity to catch up.
Kang Hyukjae wore shooting glasses, aimed at the bull's eye with one eye, kept his body still, and pulled the trigger.
"Kang Hyuk-jae of the South Korean team shot 10.7. It seems that the South Korean players are going to start catching up."
After a few shots were fired, the rankings on the field underwent several new rounds of changes.
One of them was a flip between the Chinese team and the Catantuan team.
The Chinese team rose to first place, and the Catantuan team dropped to second place.
But in the next round, the two teams returned to their original positions.
"Currently, the Chinese team is temporarily ranked second with a difference of 0.2 rings. There is one last shot left. Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan have not made any major mistakes since the beginning of the competition. I believe they can take this last shot." Xu Yingzhe's voice revealed a firm belief.
Chu Xi pursed his lips, lowered his head, placed the air pistol on the table, and loaded the bullet calmly.
The difference in the number of rings between each team is not that big.
The Chinese team cannot afford to make any mistakes in the last shot.
Chu Xi took a deep breath, waited for his mood to calm down, raised his gun and prepared to fire the final shot.
"Lu Wenxuan completed the shooting first, 10.7 rings!" Xu Yingzhe held his breath slightly, waiting for Chu Xi's last shot.
Two seconds later, Chu Xi shot.
The result slowly popped up on the electronic screen: 10.7 rings.
"Excellent! Chu Xi also scored 10.7. The two Chinese athletes have done their best and achieved excellent results."
At the same time, teams from other countries completed their final shooting.
Perhaps because of the home advantage, the Catantu team performed exceptionally well again, shooting good scores of 10.8 and 10.6, and tied the score with Chu Xi again.
In this case, the Chinese team failed to make a comeback in the last shot.
A few seconds later, the ranking of the first stage of the qualifying round was released:
First place, Catantuan Team, 530.1 rings
Second place, China, 530 rings
Third place, South Korea, 529.6 rings
Fourth place, Italy...
The top eight teams will advance to the second stage of qualifying.
In the second stage of the qualifying round, the scores of the eight teams will be reset and they will compete again for the gold medal and bronze medal qualifications.
"The Chinese team managed to secure second place in the qualifying round despite being only 0.1 points behind, advancing to the next stage of qualifying. The two Chinese players performed exceptionally well today, but the Catantu player was even better, which surprised many people."
"However, judging from past competitions, the more adversity the Chinese players face, the better they perform. In several world championship finals, there have been reports of Chinese players coming from behind to win the championship. Please have faith in the Chinese team."
Xu Yingzhe stopped commenting and a commercial came in.
After turning off the microphone, Xu Yingzhe breathed a sigh of relief.
As a Chinese, he certainly wants to see the Chinese team always be invincible and number one.
But he also knew that the changes in the real arena were too great.
Fortunately, this is only the first stage of the qualifying round, and the most crucial one is still to come in the second game.
Ahh ...
[Having finished fourth in the Olympics, the Catantuan players are certainly capable of competing for the top three. Plus, with their home-field advantage this year, it's only natural that they performed exceptionally well.]
Didn't you see that the South Korean team, which always comes in first in previous years, only finished third in today's qualifying round? In the past, shooting competitions were always a battle between China and South Korea for first and second place. Today, the Chinese team must have performed exceptionally well, so they were able to consistently outperform the South Korean team.
At this time, after the first round of qualifying, the referee announced a ten-minute break. During this time, the coach can provide technical and mental guidance to the players.
Anyone who has objections to the shooting results may also request arbitration during this period.
After Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan each put a safety flag on their guns, they turned and walked towards the rest and waiting area.
After putting down their guns, the two Katantu players on the field turned to face the audience, raised their hands, smiled, and waved hello.
The audience burst into thunderous applause.
This result should be Catantuan's best in international competitions in recent years.
Everyone at the scene was very excited.
At the same time, Song Anshan hurried forward and handed water to Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan, while giving them a relaxing massage on their arm muscles.
"Second place is already a very good result. The Catantu players did perform exceptionally well in this round of qualifiers, but they won't maintain this level forever. If they make a single mistake in the second stage of qualifiers, their morale will immediately disappear. That will be our chance."
"You just need to make sure you don't make any serious mistakes. The latter stages will be our chance to turn the tables."
Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan looked at each other and nodded at the same time, "Understood."
The atmosphere was also tense for the South Korean team.
The South Korean team coach's brows were furrowed so tightly that it looked like he could pinch a fly to death. Only after seeing Lee Ruien and the other person coming over did his expression relax a little.
He bent down, picked up the water bottle on the ground and handed it to Lee Ye Eun and Kang Hyuk Jae, and began to gibberish in Korean to give instructions.
The general meaning is: "The Catantu team's exceptional performance this round won't last long, so the biggest threat to us in the second stage will still be the Chinese team. Chu Xi is a newcomer with little competition experience. After the second stage qualifiers, she is likely to make mistakes due to nervousness or pressure. That will be our chance to catch up with the Chinese team!"
After finishing her water, Li Ruien frowned slightly, expressing her doubts: "But Chu Xi performed very steadily in the first round. If it weren't for her, we would have at least been second in this qualifying round."
Of course, the coach cannot let others show off at this time.
He remained steadfast, stating, "Newcomers generally don't perform consistently well in the World Championships. Don't let that put you off; just keep performing consistently."
Lee Yee-eun and Kang Hyuk-jae looked at each other and said nothing more.
In fact, the South Korean team coach was much more nervous than Song Anshan.
If the South Korean team still only gets third place in the second stage of the qualifiers, they will only be able to compete in the bronze medal match in tomorrow's final and will have no chance of winning the gold medal.
Therefore, by the second stage, players from each national team will definitely give their all.
Chu Xi sat on the rest bench, massaging his arm muscles and thinking deeply.
We all know that athletes from the host country will definitely have an advantage.
So she was not surprised that Katantu suddenly won the first place.
She is more concerned about Lee Ye-eun's Korean team.
In the second stage, which is the final match to decide the bronze and gold medal matches, the South Korean team may not play as conservatively as they did in the first round.
Soon, halftime passed.
Players from each national team returned to the court.
The live broadcast room of Yuexin Video also returned to the scene of the game.
"The rules for this round's gold and bronze medal matches are: Each team of two male and female athletes will each shoot twenty shots, and the total number of rings will be calculated to determine the ranking. First and second place advance to the gold medal match. Third and fourth place advance to the bronze medal match. I believe this will be a very exciting match."
[This is hilarious! I just checked online and Korean netizens are already cursing. They're all saying how could the Korean team drop to third place and questioning if there's something wrong with Team Catantu.]
Shooting is Korea's comfort zone. Losing to China was normal, but I didn't expect Catan to perform so well.
[If you don't understand, just ask, shooting in Korea is like ping-pong in China?]
[That's not the case. South Korea does win more medals in shooting, but it's not the dominant force in every event. Chinese table tennis is currently the dominant force worldwide.]
At the same time, #Chinese team advances to second place in Shooting World Cup qualifiers# became a hot topic.
"Mr. Wang! Chu Xi advanced! Advanced!" The assistant's exclamation was heard on the golf course.
Wang Yang, who was about to play basketball, stopped and turned around excitedly, "Chu Xi advanced? What game?"
"The Shooting World Cup! It's still being broadcast live on Yuexin Video. It looks like they're competing for the gold and bronze medal matches."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yang quickly dropped his golf club, returned to the parasol, and snatched the phone from his assistant. "Where is it? Where's the live broadcast?"
The assistant quickly called up Yuexin Video's live broadcast channel.
At this moment, the live broadcast room’s close-up just gave the scene of Chu Xi and Lu Wenxuan entering.
When Wang Yang saw Chu Xi, his expression immediately became emotional.
Unexpectedly, Chu Xi actually made it to an international competition like the World Cup.
"I said I have good vision. If I hadn't signed Chu Xi against all odds, would we have been able to train such a good athlete for the country?"
The assistant stood there in a daze, an awkward smile on his face.
When you signed Chu Xi, wasn't it because you were attracted by her looks and temperament and wanted to train her as an artist? Now you insist on turning her into an athlete.
But of course, he could only keep these words to himself and complain.
Wang Yang stopped playing basketball and leaned back on the recliner with his phone, preparing to watch the game.
At the same time, in Anyang City, Jiangbin Province, Chu Xi's hometown.
"What are the rules of this competition? I still haven't figured it out. What does it mean to advance now?" Zhu Lifang frowned and muttered.
Fang Ruinian projected the live broadcast onto the TV screen and continued to explain, "Anyway, if Chu Xi's team can get the top two spots in this round, we'll win this match."
Zhu Lifang sighed, "This competition is too troublesome. I've already won one round, but I still have to compete again. So, how much pressure do you think Xiaoxi will be under when she reaches the finals?"
When she was watching the game just now, she was so nervous that her hands and feet were sweating.
But Chu Xi and the contestants had to shoot at the competition site, in front of so many foreign spectators.
After Fang Ruinian adjusted the live broadcast screen, he sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and prepared to continue watching. He comforted her, "That's what it means to be specialized. We're nervous because we haven't received this kind of pressure training, but Xiaoxi and the others must have. Don't worry, Xiaoxi is more stable than you."
"Hmph." Zhu Lifang folded her arms in front of her. "That's right. Look at Xiaoxi, she's only in her early twenties, but she's more stable than you. When you encounter something, you get so irritable and restless that you can never calm down. You should learn more from Xiaoxi in the future."
"Yes, yes, I'll learn more." Fang Ruinian surrendered with both hands.
Anyway, his current position in this family cannot be reversed.
The second stage of qualifying has begun, and there are currently eight teams left on the field.
The morale of the Catantu players remained high, and there were continuous cheers and encouragement from the audience behind them.
Not only the players from the Catantuan team could hear it, but players from other countries could hear it as well.
In the last round, the Indian players ranked fifth all frowned and seemed a little dissatisfied with the cheers from the audience.
The Indian team is also under great pressure at the moment, as fifth place is a rather awkward position.
Just one more person is needed to advance to the bronze medal match.
So in this round, they must put in all their efforts to catch up.
"Competitors, please prepare to shoot." The referee's voice spread across the venue.
Chu Xi stepped forward immediately and picked up the air pistol.
The gun was cold. When Chu Xi held the gun with his warm palm, the cold touch made his mind calmer.
This time, we must do better.
Xu Yingzhe's eyes followed Chu Xi's figure closely.
When Chu Xi raised his gun and began to aim, the mood of Xu Yingzhe and all the viewers watching the live broadcast were frozen at this moment.
In the quiet arena, the first gunshot was fired by Chu Xi.
Chu Xi's first shot score: 10.8 points.
"Beautiful! Chu Xi was not affected at all by the ranking in the first round of qualifiers. She still maintained a calm and rational mentality. In the second stage of qualifiers, she was the first to shoot and scored 10.8 rings!" Xu Yingzhe's commentary sounded simultaneously.
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