Chapter 173 Enemies Meet in a Narrow Road
"Ahhhhh, make way, make way."
"Don't push, please don't push, I'm ready to go out."
"It's easier to break through the quarters, right? The two top seeds are Virginia's Frank and Texas Tech's Suarez. They were both in average form after arriving in Athens."
"I think the quarterfinals are a bit weaker. Overall, there are no particularly strong players. Don't just look at the seeds. There are also strong players among the unseeded players."
"Wow, four out of four zones are the group of death."
"Number two versus number six, wow, this is going to be exciting, UCLA's Thompson versus Virginia's Domyan, a strong duel."
"Wait, wait, Culbert is also in the Four Quarters Zone? How come all the power players are assigned to the same zone?"
"H-Gawain..."
Rustling.
Rustling.
"What?"
"Gawain is also in the Quarter Quarter?"
"First round, Kilbert? Oh, God."
Rustling.
The air was stagnant for a brief moment, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, yet they couldn't help but feel a little gloating - getting ready to watch a good show, no, getting ready to watch a wonderful duel.
Athens, the main entrance to the center court.
At this time, more than a hundred players, almost all of them from various universities, gathered together to browse the match schedule for the singles match.
Yesterday, the team competitions all came to an end, with UCLA winning both the men's and women's championships, but the universities did not leave Athens because the individual competitions will kick off tomorrow, with a total of four events, singles and doubles, entering the third stage of the U.S. Championships.
Singles, sixty-four draws; doubles, thirty-two draws.
Not all players will get the chance to participate, but even if they are not shortlisted for the tournament, those players on the team will stay in Athens to watch the game and cheer for their teammates.
Compared with team competitions, individual competitions are for personal honor. At the same time, individual competitions are closer to professional competitions and more interesting.
In individual events, the NCAA and professional tournament draw rules are basically the same, taking singles events as an example.
A total of sixty-four players participated in the U.S. Championship, sixteen of whom were seeded from one to sixteen, and then divided into two semi-regions and four sub-regions.
First, the upper half, including the quarter-finals and two-quarters, the No. 1 seed enters the quarter-finals.
Secondly, the lower half, including the three-quarter zone and the four-quarter zone, the second seed enters the four-quarter zone.
Then, the third and fourth seeds will draw lots and enter the two-quarter zone or the three-quarter zone respectively. That is to see whether the first seed will face the third or fourth seed. This requires a little bit of luck.
After the top seeds in the four sub-divisions are determined, a second round of draws will be conducted for the fifth to eighth seeds to see how they match up against the top four seeds; then the eighth to sixteenth seeds to see how they match up against the top eight seeds.
And so on.
After all the seeded matchups are determined, the unseeded players will be drawn, and finally a complete 64-place matchup list will be formed.
The draw and matchup are more or less a matter of luck.
Some players are not ranked high, but they are very strong; some players' rankings have dropped due to injuries, but their true strength does not match their current rankings; some players have mediocre rankings, but they have instantaneous burst capabilities like a sharp knife...seed bombs are everywhere.
This is similar to the World Cup, European Cup, Champions League and other football matches, which form a death zone where many masters gather.
However, luck itself is a part of competitive sports, and it is never easy to become the champion.
This year's seed killer? It has to be Gao Wen.
The ranking order of the U.S. Championships is calculated based on the regular season results. At that time, Gao Wen was ranked 17th in the United States and unfortunately missed the top 16 seeds.
Judging from the rankings, seventeenth is the highest unseeded player. Naturally, no one wants to face such an opponent in the first round.
Then, the U.S. Championship kicked off. Gao Wen, who remained undefeated this season, shined in Athens. His consecutive strong performances made him a favorite to win the championship.
Objectively speaking, due to the special nature of the NCAA competition system, the ranking is somewhat deceptive.
Take Gao Wen as an example. He has had too few matches against truly top players.
Thompson and Giron from the Bruins alone are the second and third seeds respectively in the U.S. Championships, but Gao Wen has never played against them in official competitions. However, in singles competitions, if they enter the deep rounds, they may need to face off head-on.
In addition, the top seed is Julian-Lenz from Baylor University; the fourth seed is Mitchell Frank from the University of Virginia; and the fifth seed, seventh seed, and eighth seed are all players that Gao Wen has never met.
After all, the team competition is based on schools, and some schools will never meet each other once in the entire season, so naturally there is no chance for them to compete.
Strictly speaking, the highest ranked player that Gao Wen has defeated so far is the sixth seed, Domyan from the University of Virginia.
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Then there are the eighth and ninth seeds, Sacramento and Hanfman from USC, and the 10th seed, Kerbert from Ohio State.
That's all there is to it, none of the other top 16 seeds have met.
In other words, Gao Wen's aura of being the "favorite to win the championship" is more or less mixed with some popularity factors, and is not necessarily a reflection of hard power.
Despite this, no one can deny that Gao Wen, ranked 17th in the United States, is likely to become a spoiler and disrupt the entire draw.
Obviously, any player who faces Gao Wen in the first round will probably feel a chill down his spine.
Just like Kerbert at this moment.
In the crowd, Pete Kerbert's face was as pale as the bottom of a pot. He couldn't believe that his luck in the draft could be so bad. He actually faced Gao Wen in the first round?
Grass. Grass. Grass. Grass.
Damn, what kind of luck is this? Even Koi fish are not as lucky as him! In just one week, he met Gawain again? Damn it!
Although Cobert really wanted to swear, he needed to remain calm in public and not lose his masculinity.
I can't be a coward! But why do my eyes feel a little warm? Wind.
It must be windy.
Cobert turned around and wanted to leave the scene quickly and hide in a dark corner to vent his anger, but just as he walked out of the crowd, he looked up and saw McDonald and Gawain coming towards him. The players of the Bruins also came to watch the draw results.
Meow.
Kerbert slammed on the brakes, then raised his chin high and stared at the sun, not caring at all that the golden sunlight was stinging his eyes and that wet tears were about to burst out. He pretended to be calm and took big strides, then turned around and walked in another direction.
"That... is the direction of the restaurant, not the training ground or the stadium. How did he get there?"
"I don't know, maybe I'm hungry."
The third update, extra update for 400 monthly tickets.
(End of this chapter)