Chapter 9
Sanada appears at the door of the tennis club on time, catching latecomers while supervising training.
"Sanada, some of the club supplies that need to be replaced have arrived. Come and inspect them." After giving the checklist to Sanada, Yanagi Renji continued to make the group list for the tennis club.
The main qualifying round is divided into groups based on strength and performance in the club, and it is also to take care of the doubles players in the team. Doubles players are more difficult to retain than singles players, and a certain degree of tacit understanding is required. After all, the junior high school competition is a team competition.
Last year, Yukimura and the previous director did this work together. Yukimura was responsible for the grouping of subsequent competitions, and Yanagi Renji only needed to provide data.
The division of labor is now being divided little by little. Sanada takes over the part that originally belonged to Yanagi Renji, and the content that Sanada is responsible for supervising and training is evenly distributed among the team's starting players.
Sanada carefully recorded the number of new tennis balls and rackets, as well as daily necessities such as towels, and after counting and checking them, he gave the signature of the person in charge of delivery.
After receiving the receipt, the store staff member who had been working with the Rikkai University Tennis Club confirmed, "Sanada-kun, the latest version of the ball serving machine will take some time to arrive. It won't be delivered until the beginning of the month. When can you schedule a maintenance appointment for the old machine?"
"Let's schedule it for the weekend. It's best if we do it together. Let's contact each other a day in advance." Sanada and the members who came to help stored the new supplies and replaced them together before the next semester starts.
Let's put Suzuki-kun in Group C, and Group B plus Senior Kujo... Yanagi Renji will evenly distribute all the non-starters of the tennis club into the tables of the four groups ABCD. Now there are only the starter positions left to be filled, one for Yukimura who is still sick, and the other for the vacant position left by Senior Mori's graduation.
Sanada returned to the tennis club classroom. Yanagi Renji was still adjusting the club players' positions. "Is it finished?"
The main qualifying round is an opportunity for challenge, and it also allows the players participating in the event to have a clear understanding of their own strength. Even if there is no chance to challenge the main selection, being able to play a game with teammates of equal strength will also bring good gains.
"The starting lineup has not been decided yet. Do you have any ideas? Sanada." Liu pointed out the empty space in the table. Kirihara Aka was also arranged in Group D. There was no starting lineup in that group, so the starting lineup position was basically confirmed.
This is the invisible preferential treatment. If he was arranged in Group A or Group B, where Rikkai University's main players are often present, Kirihara Akaya would probably have to wait until his seniors graduate before he would have a chance.
Group D consists of non-starters who have performed well in team training and are strong.
Sanada walked to the table and wrote his name together with Niou Masaharu's name, Yanagi Renji's name and Marui Bunta's name, and the remaining ones were Yagyu Hiroshi and Jackal Kuwabara.
Yanagi Renji looked up at Sanada with a serious expression. This was the grouping Yukimura had always avoided. When they were in the first grade of junior high school, only three of them had qualified through the challenge tournament. Even in the main qualifying rounds, most of them were learning management under the guidance of their seniors. Half a year was not enough for three of them to understand the entire tennis club. Not everyone cooperated.
The second year of junior high officially entered the three-man management period, and many rules were redesigned. At that time, the only 100% regular selection spots were Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi himself, and Mori-senpai. There were four vacancies waiting to be filled.
Yukimura also intended to separate Sanada and Niou Masaharu into separate teams. After all, the two have different auras, and Sanada will not make things difficult for no reason, but he will definitely give his all in the official competition.
Moreover, Niou Masaharu was not as tactless as Kirihara Aka, who went straight to provoke the captain as soon as he arrived. At that time, Kirihara Aka was not like he is now, who always calls Yukimura the captain and picks on Yukimura's weaknesses, such as how can he lead the tennis club with such appearance, and how weak he looks... He was completely defeated in one go.
In short, it wasn't a conflict of principle. Yukimura was more aligned with Niou, and Niou Masaharu rarely gave Sanada a chance to exploit his weaknesses. "Are you sure you want to arrange it this way?"
"Yes, they both made it into the starting selection based on their singles strength, and only later focused on doubles. And I didn't give Yukimura's position away, I only gave him one position in the starting selection this time." This is what Sanada thought. He can ensure that he can give his all in the Kanto tournament, but it is not certain whether the national tournament will change.
Yukimura was the last baton for Rikkai University. Sanada would accept the result no matter what it was. Not only Sanada, but everyone else was unwilling to accept the result even though they missed the championship that day. Rikkai University did not have a regular player and would not accept the result. Yukimura could represent all of Rikkai University's tennis club.
In fact, the most controversial thing after the game was Sanada's behavior. Niou Masaharu accepted Sanada's iron fist punishment and accepted being told that the illusion was a useless trick after losing, but he could not accept that Sanada, as a member of Rikkai University, helped his opponent recover his strength, and Seigaku was not without help.
Sanada does not regret helping others because he firmly believes in Yukimura's victory.
Even if Rikkai University loses, Sanada doesn't think there's anything wrong with helping. But now Sanada can accept it and wait patiently, standing on Rikkai University's side and waiting for the result.
Seigaku will not lose the qualification for the competition just because of one less person's help. Yukimura decided to wait and see a definite result.
Even if Sanada's moves were copied by Muga and Yukimura had cracked them all, in fact, whether to help or not is just a matter of behavior. If Rikkai University wins, this behavior will be ignored.
In a previous Kanto tournament, Sanada was angry that Ginka Middle School surrendered without a fight. How could such a team make it to Kanto?
Niou Masaharu laughed at Sanada. Not everyone is willing to compete with Rikkai. It is normal to behave like this. If you go to Ginka to be the captain, you will probably force all the staff to die in battle~ Haha.
Sanada has his own unique views and rules in doing things, but they are indeed not suitable for everyone. Sanada's strict and serious approach is very helpful for order and execution.
Only when the three giants have a reasonable division of labor and management can the Rikkai University Tennis Club prosper.
Yukimura and Yanagi Renji are arranging the planning and formulation. Since Sanada is not proposing anything this time, the schedule is likely to repeat Yukimura's previous arrangement.
In the main qualifying round before the junior high school national competition, the optimal schedule before Yukimura fell ill was to ensure the integrity of the team as much as possible.
Senior Maori is very clear about what his juniors mean. Every time at this time, he is the first one to suggest training the newcomers. In fact, it is also to avoid the belligerent juniors.
After Sanada and his friends challenged the main draw, they spent a lot of time and energy learning how to manage and lead the tennis club. It was not until they graduated that they found out that the strongest person in the tennis club was not the captain but Mori, the senior who skipped training from time to time.
I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the main qualifying round to have a fair match, but Senior Maori always found the best excuse to get away with it.
In order to fill the gap in the first two years of junior high, they adopted a system of active registration. Sanada and the others were separated into separate groups, so they had no chance to compete with Mori-senpai. The groups at that time were Sanada and Yanagi, Marui and Niou, Kuwahara and Yukimura, and Mori-senpai and another senior. Yanagi was in Mori-senpai's group and challenged for a spot in the starting lineup.
During the mid-term, crucial period of the national tournament, Niou Masaharu's partner, Yagyu Hiroshi, was challenging for a spot in the main draw. Mori-senpai had already signed up, and Marui Bunta and the other players, who had only been with the club for half a year, were unaware of Sanada and his team's intentions and had no idea about the main draw rankings. Sanada wouldn't deny a member's legitimate challenge for personal gain, and as club leader, Yukimura wouldn't abuse his authority.
Playing around in daily life has nothing to do with tennis. When it comes to matters concerning the tennis club, if Sanada has any objections, Yukimura will always give a reasonable explanation.
As for finding someone to challenge at other times, you must first find a senior Maori person, and whether he will accept the request for a competition is another matter.
As far as I can remember, the groupings after Yukimura's illness were so recent that the table only had minor adjustments: Sanada and Yanagi, Marui and Kuwahara, Niou and Yagyu, and Mori-senpai and Kirihara.
Yukimura's position as the chief was retained, and the position vacated by Mori-senpai after his graduation was the challenger's.
"I have no objection to Yukimura's idea, but this requires the consent of all the regulars, and you must confirm that you are in the same group with Nio." Yanagi Renji confirmed again. In fact, Yukimura's bias in the grouping would not affect the result at all, because the effect of Sanada and Marui being in the same group as Nio is the same, it's just that they are not very friendly to Nio personally.
Sanada nodded and went out to call the main selection.
Yanagi Renji repeatedly stared at Sanada's back. He certainly seemed different, but the nature of his choices remained the same. "But I truly have no selfish motives."
Marui Bunta walked in with his racket. "What's going on? Sanada wants to gather for a discussion."
"Maybe it has something to do with Minister Yukimura. After all, Minister Yukimura cannot participate in this final round, and he cannot be disqualified because of this." Niou Masaharu guessed that the things that require the approval of all are only Minister Yukimura's personal matters recently, and other small matters or grouping can be handled by military advisors.
Regarding Mr. Yukimura's matter, even without Bunta's statement, the fact that Jackal Kuwabara would vote in favor was certainly a good thing. "It's not a disease..."
"Then we should gather at Kanei Hospital instead of in the classroom." Yagyu Hiroshi calmly blocked the worst thoughts of the Jackal Kuwabara.
Yanagi Renji sorted out the qualifying sheets for the main draw and spoke. "First, I'd like to discuss Yukimura. Yukimura is still undergoing treatment and cannot participate in the main draw. Common sense would dictate that his position be vacated for a newcomer, but Vice Minister Sanada has proposed retaining Minister Yukimura's position. This would reduce the number of Rikkai University players to seven, and I agree. Please vote on this proposal."
"What? Of course I'll pass this." Marui Fumita said without any hesitation.
Niou Masaharu twirled his braid around his fingers and raised his hand. "There's no need to discuss this at all."
All the candidates voted in favor.
"If this proposal is passed, I will announce this when posting the qualifying groups. However, everyone will accept the challenge together in the new year." Yanagi Renji said as he unfolded this year's group table and placed it in the middle of the table.
Rikkai University respects strength, and after occupying the quota, the main selection will also make concessions. There are usually only two main selection qualifying matches, but in the new year's challenge tournament, non-main selections will have one more chance to challenge the main selection.
Bunta Marui didn't find the grouping strange. You know, when he successfully made it to the main selection in the second year of junior high school, Bunta Marui chose the grouping of Sanada. He didn't think there was anything unreasonable about this distribution. Nioh's opponent would either be Yukimura, Yagyu, or Sanada.
Yagyu Hiroshi knew Niou Masaharu well. When they formed a tag team, Niou had once recounted his journey to becoming a regular. It was said that he had calculated for a long time before deciding to target the strategist's group first. "Ahem~ Niou, check your watch."
Niou Masaharu glanced absentmindedly at the match schedule, his eyes widening. "Oh my god! What a distribution!"
Yanagi Renji remained as still as a mountain in the face of Niou's sword-like gaze.
Most people can accept Sanada because he can do it and do it better. But Niou Masaharu is different. If Sanada were the captain of the tennis club, Niou Masaharu could turn around and find his partner Yagyu Hiroshi to rebuild the golf club.
When he chose Liu to challenge in the first grade of junior high school, it was naturally something that Niou had calculated.
Tennis clubs all have traditions. Even though the Rikkai University tennis club is a little special, some things can still be found in patterns. For people with better calculation skills, it is very simple. A military strategist can do it, and a fraudster can do it too.
Niou Masaharu was also aware of his own strength. He was unhappy with Sanada but could not beat him for the time being. Therefore, before the challenge, Niou Masaharu collected information on how to be as good as Yanagi Renji. Until now, he is sure that his calculations are correct, and he did not meet Sanada in the main draw.
If Yukimura were here and Niou Masaharu were ranked higher than Yukimura, he would have accepted it. Obviously, the chances of Hiroshi and Kirihara Akaya being the ones to take the photo would be higher than Sanada. "Could it be that Sanada asked for it himself? I haven't been teasing him lately~ Haha."
"Now that Yukimura's matter is settled, there's nothing else to worry about. Everyone should prepare well for the main draw." Yanagi Renji was going to post the match groups.
Ren Wang sighed and decided what to do. It’s not that he can’t fight, but he needs to step up preparations in the next few days.
Sanada was well aware of the potential of Marui Bunta and Niou Masaharu in Rikkai University's doubles team. The U-17 team proved everything. At this time, he just wanted to push them. Rikkai University's victory required the efforts of everyone.
Sanada had already played against Marui Bunta in the first year of junior high school. Normally, Sanada would not have the opportunity to play against Marui Bunta in the main draw. Invitational practice matches were also acceptable. Only with Niou Masaharu, it was not a formal opportunity, so Sanada had no reason to play against him specifically.
"Pfft~ I'm under a lot of pressure. I'm leaving first. By the way, Military Advisor, I need to take a leave for secret training this weekend." Ren Wang was the first to leave.
After the meeting, Sanada took his racket to the indoor court, while the regular players scattered around the tennis club to do their own training programs.
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