Chapter 24 Chapter 24
"Click, click—" Various flash shots kept flashing in the competition venue.
Reporters frantically aimed at Chu Xi, trying to capture her shooting.
Chu Xi raised his gun again, ready to shoot, and his standing posture with one hand in his pocket seemed to be in a state of stillness.
The audience held their breath, their heartbeats gradually quickening as time passed.
The gunshot rang out, and the second shooting result popped up: 10.5 rings.
"This time, Chu Xi performed remarkably well, scoring a 10.5. Similarly, Lu Meng also performed well, scoring a 10.4."
Xu Yingzhe calmly explained, "We can see that after entering the elimination rounds, the players' aiming times are getting longer. As the game progresses, the more they can't afford to make any mistakes, and the mental challenges on the players only become more intense."
"In addition, the eighth-place finisher in this round will be eliminated here. This competitor is only 18 years old. To have made it to the finals at this age, her talent and hard work are undeniable. I look forward to her continued success in shooting."
The girl ranked eighth smiled and bowed to greet the audience.
Although she was eliminated quickly, she still left a deep impression on the audience. After all, she is only eighteen years old this year and has unlimited possibilities in the future.
The game is still going on, and the scores between Chu Xi and Lu Meng are always close.
As time went on, the atmosphere became more tense.
Lu Meng started to make mistakes and shot a score of 9.6.
But Chu Xi's performance in this shot was not the best, he only scored 9.8 rings.
"After this round, we'll decide the top three. You can see the four contestants on the field are still calm and composed, with no signs of emotion. But for us here, our hearts are already beating like crazy."
"This is the charm of shooting sports, the coexistence of extreme calmness and excitement, which is unpredictable."
Xu Yingzhe's tone was no longer able to suppress his excitement.
"Currently, the rankings are still very close. Chu Xi, who is in first place, has a total score of 194.5 rings."
"Lu Meng ranked second with a total score of 193.1 rings."
"The third-place finisher, Wang Shaorui, scored a total of 190.3 rings."
"The fourth place contestant scored a total of 189.8 rings."
"There's only a razor-thin 0.5 ring difference between the third and fourth place contestants. Now there's only one shot left to decide who will be eliminated this round."
Xu Yingzhe's voice gradually faded away, and the field returned to silence.
The people in the audience were so scared that they dared not breathe, their eyes fixed on the score changes on the field.
This atmosphere lasted for about five seconds.
The contestants finally started shooting.
After the gunshot, the ranking of the players on the screen changed.
Third place Wang Shaorui: 200.1 rings
Fourth place: 200 rings
Xu Yingzhe commented: "Third-place player Wang Shaorui shot a 9.8 in this round. Fourth-place player, despite the pressure, shot a 10.2. Although the fourth-place player had the upper hand in this shot, she still couldn't catch up in the overall ranking, ending the match with a regrettable 0.1 gap."
The audience who had been expecting a reversal shook their heads regretfully.
"It's only 0.1 ring off, but there's nothing I can do about it. I probably didn't play well in the previous few rounds."
"This competitor must be feeling incredibly bad. He was just 0.1 ring shy of a medal. There's a world of difference between third and fourth place."
"There's nothing we can do about it. Sports competition is just so cruel."
There are only three medals, but there are hundreds of contestants. Sports competitions are always full of regrets.
The game continues, and the more exciting part will be in the last two rounds.
The champion, runner-up and third place will be decided one after another.
Wang Xingwen, who had always been relaxed, now had a more serious look on his face.
He supported his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly, and stared at Chu Xi in the game.
No matter how professional an athlete is, he or she will inevitably feel nervous when the final battle comes.
The bigger the competition, the greater the pressure on them.
He was still a little worried that Chu Xi might make mistakes in these few games.
"Isn't Junior Sister starting to get nervous?"
"Shut up your crow mouth! No matter what, I'm guaranteed to get a card, which is already very good."
The players next to him also started arguing because of nervousness.
Yu Wanya on the other side had clenched her hands tightly, her palms full of sweat from nervousness.
Originally, she had never thought that Chu Xi might be able to compete for the top three in this competition.
But after the first round of shooting, she was slapped in the face.
Then the second round of shooting ended and she was hit in the face again.
After being slapped in the face countless times, Yu Wanya began to look forward to the scene of Chu Xi winning the championship.
Perhaps it was because Chu Xi was too stable, so stable that people had no doubt that she would not win the championship.
Everyone was completely immersed in the tense atmosphere of the finals, forgetting all the troubles and trivialities in reality.
At this moment, they had only one goal in mind: to see Chu Xi win the championship.
A contestant who registered for the competition in his own name, a dark horse contestant who emerged out of nowhere and crushed a group of veteran contestants.
Can she hold on at the last moment?
"Chu Xi is preparing to shoot." Xu Yingzhe tried to control himself and keep his voice steady. But inside, he was already as nervous and expectant as the audience.
Under the gaze of the entire audience, Chu Xi slowly raised his hand holding the gun.
The coach has said countless times: "The charm of shooting is to forget all distractions and focus on the moment of shooting."
Her eyes, which had been lowered, slowly lifted up, and without any emotion, she stared straight at the bull's eye in front of her.
My breathing and everything around me slowed down at this moment.
Her slender fingers rested lightly on the trigger, and the cold gun had become warm in her grip.
In the silent competition venue, crisp gunshots rang out.
"Chu Xi shot! This shot hit 10.6 rings!" Xu Yingzhe saw the change in the score at the first time and reported it immediately.
Lu Meng shot almost at the same time as her and scored 10.9.
"Contestant Lu Meng unexpectedly managed to shoot a 10.9 ring score in the finals, despite immense pressure! She's truly a veteran competitor; her extensive competition experience has honed her mental fortitude!"
Xu Yingzhe's voice was cracking with excitement.
It is really exciting to be able to shoot a full ring score under pressure at the last moment of the final.
Wang Xingwen in the audience frowned even more tightly.
Lu Meng is indeed too steady.
Before Chu Xi appeared, Lu Meng had almost no rivals in the women's 10-meter air pistol event.
Only the players on the national team can compete with Lu Meng.
If nothing unexpected happens, Lu Meng will definitely be selected into the national team this year.
So it’s hard to say who will be the champion right now.
The people in the audience also became excited.
Shooting competitions in previous years were not so exciting. There were two players who scored full rings in one final.
Moreover, the competition between these two people for ranking is still quite fierce.
The reporters who were ready to capture the championship scene were also driven by the atmosphere on the scene.
Before coming, everyone's task was basically to take pictures of Lu Meng, but unexpectedly, a dark horse Chu Xi suddenly appeared.
The reporters were all focused, ready to capture the moments of Chu Xi and Lu Meng winning the championship.
"Oh my God, the third-placed contestant Wang Shaorui also scored a good score of 10.7 rings in this shot! The contestants this year are bringing us more and more shocks." Xu Yingzhe explained excitedly again.
I thought that the contestants would make some small mistakes at the final stage.
But surprisingly, in this competition, the three female players were more powerful than each other and all started to perform beyond their expectations.
Xu Yingzhe exhaled softly, his mood gradually calming down, and continued to explain: "Now, the three contestants will take the final shot, and then the third bronze medalist will be decided!"
The heated discussions in the audience quickly died down and silence returned.
Chu Xi lowered his head, with his air pistol resting on the table.
She methodically loaded the air pistol with bullets and gently snapped the magazine closed.
The moment you put down your gun, everything is reset to zero and all your previous achievements are no longer important.
The next shot, you have to start over.
Chu Xi exhaled lightly, raised the air pistol again, and aimed his sight forward.
Block out all distractions and start over.
When her breathing rhythm gradually became regular, her slender fingers decisively pulled the trigger.
Still 10.7 rings!
"Even though she knew that the other players were chasing her closely, Chu Xi still performed steadily and shot 10.7 rings. Her amazing performance in her first final as a newcomer is unforgettable," Xu Yingzhe commented.
At this time, the ring scores of Lu Meng and third-place Wang Shaorui were also announced.
Lu Meng: 10.4 rings.
Wang Shaorui: 10.6 rings.
Although Wang Shaorui's performance was getting better and better, she made mistakes in the first few shots and her overall score was far behind Lu Meng. At the last moment, she was obviously unable to catch up.
"Let us congratulate Wang Shaorui in advance for winning the bronze medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol final!" Xu Yingzhe announced with a smile.
There was warm applause from the audience.
Wang Shaorui shook her head helplessly, probably a little dissatisfied with her performance today.
But she still smiled and waved to the audience.
"Now the competition has come to the final round. Let's hold our breath and focus on these last two shots." Xu Yingzhe lowered his voice, as if he was afraid of accidentally disturbing the players. Although the players all wore noise-canceling headphones, they could not hear any sound in the field.
"Oh my god, this little junior sister is really strong." The team members around Wang Xingwen couldn't help but sigh.
As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while experts watch the details.
When shooting athletes evaluate a person's strength, they don't look at the highest score he gets in shooting, but rather at how stable he is.
For example, one shooting athlete always ranks third all year round, while another athlete sometimes ranks first and sometimes drops out of third place.
The coach will definitely trust the former more.
Because in the shooting field, what matters in the end is stability.
The stability Chu Xi showed in this final was truly amazing.
Wang Xingwen also nodded secretly.
At this point in the game, he no longer had any doubts about Chu Xi's strength.
On the other side, Yu Wanya excitedly took out her phone and sent a message to her assistant: [Hurry up and contact Chu Xi's company and tell them you want to discuss Chu Xi's endorsement of Jiyue.]
After sending the message, Yu Wanya quickly put down her phone and glanced at the electronic screen opposite.
First place: Chu Xi, ring count: 226.1 rings
Second place: Lu Meng, ring score: 224.8 rings
"Huh..." Yu Wanya exhaled nervously. The difference between the two was only 1.3 rings. With two more shots, they should be able to win, right?
In the first few rounds, Chu Xi didn’t care too much about the ranking.
But this time, before raising her gun, she glanced at the current ranking gap, and after having a rough idea in her mind, she continued to raise her gun and shoot.
When he looked up, Chu Xi's eyes, which were originally emotionless, became a little colder.
10.4 rings!
"Chu Xi shot 10.4 rings!" Xu Yingzhe immediately looked at Lu Meng nervously.
At this time, Lu Meng also completed the shooting: 10.7 rings.
"Lu Meng completed another beautiful shot. This shot has narrowed the gap between the two to just one ring." Xu Yingzhe no longer said any extra words and simply announced the results.
Because no one cares about anything else now.
The last shot will determine the champion of this round of finals!
Wang Xingwen crossed his hands and felt a little more nervous.
The two are still one ring apart, which means that in this final shot, as long as Chu Xi does not fall below ten rings, she will definitely win the championship.
But maintaining the first place is often more difficult than surpassing the first place.
Later on, those who are ranked lower will realize that if they don’t try again, their ranking will remain the same, so it is often the case that in the last shot before elimination, the players at the lower end are more likely to achieve very good results.
For the players who always rank first, the pressure is often unimaginable.
The team member next to him also put his hands together, closed his eyes and began to pray: "Ten rings will do, ten rings will do."
When preparing to fire the last shot, Lu Meng loaded the bullet and looked up at the current ranking score.
One more step to go.
She pursed her lips, calmly raised her gun and began to aim.
Everyone's eyes were on Chu Xi and Lu Meng.
In this round, both players took an exceptionally long time to aim. It was only a few seconds, but the audience felt like a year had passed.
"Chu Xi took the lead in shooting!" Xu Yingzhe shouted immediately, "Let's look forward to her results."
About a second later, the result of Chu Xi's last shot slowly appeared on the electronic screen: [10.2 rings]
"10.2 rings! Chu Xi, despite the tremendous pressure, still shot a score of more than ten rings, and this shot directly secured her the championship spot in advance!" Xu Yingzhe said excitedly.
At the same time, Chu Xi's score changed to 246.7 rings.
It is more than eleven rings higher than Lu Meng's score.
And this result cannot be surpassed no matter how high the score Lu Meng gets in his last shot.
Lu Meng also saw the score.
She shook her head helplessly. After realizing that she could no longer win the championship, the psychological pressure was released all at once.
For the last shot, Lu Meng returned to his seriousness, took aim and fired.
10.7 rings!
"In the last shot, Lu Meng scored a good score of 10.7, but unfortunately, in the total score, he was still 0.5 rings behind Chu Xi."
"Let us also congratulate Lu Meng for winning the second place in the women's 10-meter air pistol final. Congratulations to them for receiving their own honorary medals! We also want to thank them for bringing us such a wonderful competition."
"Also, it's worth mentioning that our champion, Chu Xi, registered as an individual and had never participated in any major domestic competitions before this one. Her calm and composed demeanor doesn't seem like a first-time competitor at all. She's a truly talented athlete. It's conceivable that Chu Xi's name will likely be heard frequently in major shooting competitions in the future."
"Let's wait and see."
"This concludes the women's 10-meter air pistol final. See you next time!"
After the commentary, the whole audience was in an uproar!
Everyone was discussing the name Chu Xi enthusiastically.
"Who on earth is Chu Xi? Too cruel, too cruel, a dark horse that suddenly appeared out of nowhere!"
"There will be another genius in the field of shooting."
"She really doesn't look like a first-time competitor at all. She's so calm. I really love the look in her eyes when she's shooting. Hahahahaha."
Yu Wanya suddenly clenched her fists and stood up, the excitement on her face no longer able to be suppressed.
She took out her cell phone and called her assistant directly, "Have you contacted Chu Xi's company?"
The assistant was stunned for a moment, "I contacted them, but Chuxi Company has not replied."
"Go find the contact information of Chu Xi's boss, and I will talk to him in person." Yu Wanya made a quick decision with a tense face.
Assistant: "Okay, I'll go right away!"
After hanging up the phone, Yu Wanya's fanatical gaze fell on Chu Xi's figure on the competition field.
This business trip was really worth it!
She had a feeling that their brand might inflict a huge loss on their rival, Hongke, this year.
She took out her cell phone, took several photos of Chu Xi on the field, then quickly left the field with her bag, ready to personally discuss Chu Xi's endorsement.
There had been cases before where a spokesperson was temporarily snatched away by a red hacker, so she couldn't let it down again today.
…
Wang Xingwen clenched his hands tightly and waved them vigorously in the air.
You can see that he is very emotional at the moment.
He has participated in so many competitions, but today's final was the one that made him most emotional.
"Coach, champion! Champion! And it's her first time participating in such a large-scale competition. I'm numb, is this the terror of genius?" The team members shouted excitedly beside them, but they felt a little sad in their hearts.
There is a new genius in the team. How are they going to survive in the future?
Wang Xingwen smiled meaningfully, "Genius is great! Only with her here can the whole team be motivated. Don't even think about slacking off anymore."
The team members fell into wailing.
…
Long after the game ended, the audience continued to cheer and roar.
Even though the venue only held about 700 people, the cheers they generated were enormous.
Reporters rushed forward, holding microphones and crowding in front of Chu Xi. "Hello, as the champion of this final, do you have anything to say to the audience?"
Chu Xi had given so many interviews that she had already mastered the art of making official statements that wouldn't offend anyone: "I'm certainly happy to have won the championship this time. But winning this championship isn't the end. I need to work harder and keep improving myself."
On the other side, many reporters surrounded Lu Meng.
"How do you feel about your tragic loss of the championship?"
Lu Meng has participated in many competitions and has also learned the official speech: "Winning the silver medal is a reward and honor for my hard work and training over the years. I will continue to work hard and strive to make greater progress in the next competition."
After briefly answering a few questions, Chu Xi and Lu Meng turned around almost at the same time and quickly left the competition venue through the exit.
After leaving the competition venue, Chu Xi stopped and turned around to meet Lu Meng's eyes.
The two of them smiled and nodded to each other.
"The national team selection will be held soon. Will you participate?" Lu Meng looked at Chu Xi eagerly, his eyes full of fighting spirit.
Chu Xi nodded at her and said, "Participate."
"Well, see you then." After saying that, Lu Meng waved goodbye to Chu Xi and turned to walk in another direction.
Chu Xi withdrew his gaze, turned around and prepared to walk towards the dormitory.
At this time, Wang Xingwen led his team members to a detour and came to the back exit of the gymnasium.
"Chu Xi, you did a great job." Wang Xingwen walked over with a smile on his face and patted Chu Xi on the shoulder. "Go home early today and rest up and relax."
Chu Xi nodded, "Yeah."
The two team members who came with Wang Xingwen surrounded Chu Xi with envy and muttered, "Junior sister, you won the championship right from the start. The pressure you put on us is quite a lot."
"That's right. If we join the team from now on, we'll really have no way to survive."
Chu Xi laughed dryly: "It's not that exaggerated."
"Isn't that an exaggeration? You've already won the championship."
…
During the lunch break at noon, Jiang Wannan also learned the good news that Chu Xi won the championship.
Her eyes flashed with joy, and her tone became a little excited. "Coach, our team is really going to rise. It's been a long time since we've had an outstanding candidate in the women's 10-meter air pistol."
Wang Xingwen quickly put his hand down on her, signaling her to calm down. "We'll talk about this later. Don't get too excited yet. You have the Qibu/Jiang finals tomorrow morning. Focus on your competition first."
Jiang Wannan's main event is the women's 10-meter air step and gun. She just finished the qualifying round this morning, and she also qualified for the finals with the first place in the qualifying round.
Thinking about the finals, Jiang Wannan regained her spirits and said, "Yes!"
In the afternoon, after sending Jiang Wannan to the venue to continue training, Wang Xingwen came out of the training ground and took the time to call Wang Ruiguo outside.
"Oh shit! I just found out that Chu Xi won the championship! What's going on?" As soon as the call was connected, Wang Ruiguo rushed over with Chinese quintessence.
Wang Xingwen was still relatively calm, after all, he had been shocked once on the scene that morning.
"Chu Xi is indeed a good shooter. Her performance in the finals was outstanding. I think it would be better to cancel the tryout and directly recruit her into the team to avoid any further complications."
This was the purpose of Wang Xingwen’s call.
At the end of today's final, the commentator specifically introduced that Chu Xi is currently still an individual player. If other shooting teams have ideas, they might come to snatch him away.
They'd better strike first.
Wang Ruiguo pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "No, Chu Xi's application materials for the tryout have already been submitted, and according to the process, they can't be withdrawn. But she has already applied for a tryout with our team, so she won't go to another team, don't worry."
"The information has been submitted, so that's fine." Wang Xingwen muttered, "Other shooting teams wouldn't come to snatch people in such a situation."
When they hung up the phone, Wang Ruiguo and Wang Xingwen felt relieved.
Chu Xi's appearance finally brought a new turn for their team's women's 10-meter air pistol event.
…
At this time, Wang Yang, who had just finished playing golf, walked out of the golf course with a bulging belly.
He had his hands behind his back, wearing a suit and vest, and still had that arrogant look on his face.
"How is it? Chu Xi still hasn't responded recently?" Wang Yang glanced at the assistant behind him.
The assistant quickly replied, "There really is no response. And I don't know what she's been busy with recently. It seems she's out of town."
Wang Yang sneered with a serious face.
An artist who has just gained some popularity wants to compete with him.
As I was thinking this, the phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.
Wang Yang took out his phone, raised his head, and glanced at the caller ID: [Extreme Brand - Yu Wanya]
The next second, Wang Yang's expression changed instantly, and he answered the phone with a smile on his face.
"Director Yu, how come you have time to call me?"
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