56 Zhuhai-Hong Kong Table Tennis Championships
◎The team is so short of talent now, why doesn't the national team keep him?◎
Anti-arc rubber?
While listening to Ren Xinhua's words, Zhu Qi thought for a moment.
Of course she knows.
As the name suggests, this is a rubber specially designed to restrain loop balls.
Actually, not many people use it, because this kind of rubber... depends on the person.
After all, loop balls are not yet fully popularized, and there are only a few people who can hit them.
Oh Mo.
It really was directed at her.
Zhu Qi said: "Loop balls are mainly characterized by super strong topspin, so anti-loop rubber is a rubber that combines the characteristics of long rubber. The grains are inward-facing, and the length of the grains between the short and long grains is shorter than that of long rubber and longer than that of raw rubber. This rubber can offset the super strong spin of loop balls."
Foye and Shige were stunned. The latter was surprised: "How do you know? Have you seen it?"
Zhu Qi made up a story: "I have a 'friend' who is a coach at a foreign club. We met when I returned to Jianghuai, and 'she' told me this."
The Buddha was delighted. "Can you please have her come to Zhuhai and Hong Kong? We'll reimburse her travel expenses. There's a player on the North Korean team who uses anti-arc rubber. You're bound to run into him later. It would be great if she could give you some advice."
Can you come with a hammer.
That was herself in her previous life.
Zhu Qi quickly said, "'She' can't come. 'She'... is abroad. It's okay. She told me about the arc-proof rubber, and I know everything."
The three adults were overjoyed.
Ren Xinhua pulled a stool over for her and sat down facing her. "You've been practicing looping for so long. Are you confident against this special style of play?"
"The characteristic of anti-spin rubber is that it's not susceptible to spin; it effectively counteracts high spin on incoming balls. In layman's terms, it's like using softness to overcome hardness, the Tai Chi push-hands of table tennis. This particular style is among the strangest of the strange, and it's very challenging for spin-focused players like me," Zhu Qi pondered. "To be honest, I've never played against a player using anti-spin rubber, but... from what I understand, the anti-spin rubber style is somewhat similar to that of long rubber. I'll have to wait and see what the real situation is like."
North Korean athletes rarely participate in world competitions, and there are almost no surviving video recordings of their matches.
Zhu Qi was also busy with his competition and had no time to personally watch the North Korean players' playing style...
After hearing Zhu Qi's words, the three coaches felt a little relieved.
Because Zhu Qi has a ready-made long rubber player next to him - A Shui.
But long rubber and anti-arcing rubber are still different, so Zhu Qi can only treat it as long rubber for the time being.
The issue of anti-arcing rubber was being discussed in the room when Chang Hongxia and Xu Dong came in with videotapes of North Korean players' games.
A room of six people began to watch Xi Lingen's game frame by frame.
It is exactly the same as what Zhu Qi said.
The front of North Korea's Xilingen is anti-arcing rubber, and the back is the same anti-slip rubber as Zhu Qi.
It is almost the same as A Shui's tactical system.
Both use frontal defense and reverse attack.
Forehand and backhand offense and defense, mainly backhand.
This was also the first time that Zhu Qi saw the game video of this North Korean player. Judging from his basic skills, he is not inferior to the world's top T1 players.
But a video is a video after all.
The footage was blurred, and the hotel's videotape technology couldn't analyze it frame by frame.
Ren Xinhua warned, "Xi Ling'en is the biggest dark horse in this competition. She crushed her way into the quarterfinals and is very strong. North Korea has always been a country that never fights without confidence. Whenever they send an athlete to participate, they will definitely not return empty-handed. Aside from Russia's Snodiava, her level is considered the highest."
Zhu Qi nodded to indicate that he remembered it.
The Buddha also felt very headache.
Among the female players who came to the national team this time, except Zhu Qi, the performance of the others were very average.
Moreover, the schedule this time is not very good for the Chinese team.
At the beginning, when the 64 players were selected to play 32, two girls from the Chinese team collided with each other and had a civil war, and one of them was eliminated.
A Shui's performance in the top 16 really gave him a headache.
He was too soft and not decisive in killing.
It is A Shui's weakness.
Zhu Qi did a good job in this regard.
As long as he gets the chance, he will kill and won't let go once he bites like a little leopard.
Ren Xinhua happened to be thinking the same thing as Master Fo. She crossed her arms and began to worry about Ah Shui: "Fang Miao is too insecure about himself. He tends to show his weakness in singles. But in doubles, he has no such obstacles. He pairs up with Bao Bao with ease. This shows that Fang Miao's current obstacle is not a technical one, but a problem with his mentality."
Xu Dong also found it very difficult.
Things like mentality cannot be improved through technology.
A Shui is not a player who can withstand pressure. He needs encouragement from Xu Dong to keep his mind steady. He can only give him more guidance and advice during the game.
It just so happened that Zhu Qi met an old acquaintance during the quarterfinals.
Kaori Ahara of the Japanese team.
Before the game started, when she was playing basketball in the warm-up hall, Zhu Qi saw her and took the initiative to come forward and say hello.
"Zaiyuan, why didn't you participate in the World Championship last year?" Zhu Qi said with a smile, "I thought you would definitely participate. I wanted to play against you again, but I didn't expect that it would not happen in the World Championship until today."
Zai Yuanxiang forced a smile and explained in not very standard Chinese: "After finishing in Tokyo, I felt unwell and took a break..."
Zhu Qi understood what was going on and tried to comfort him: "Are you feeling better now?"
"Much better..."
The last World Games were held in Tokyo, which was Japan's home stadium.
But this national table tennis tournament is held in Zhugang, China, which is Zhu Qi's home court.
Zhu Qi could guess it even with his toes.
It was probably because he lost so miserably to Hara Xiang in the mixed team competition at the World Games.
The Japanese team knew that Zhu Qi was going to participate in the World Cup again, so they did not let Yuan Xiang apply for sick leave to withdraw.
He was afraid of running into Zhu Qi, who was at the peak of his career, in Yuanxiang and losing again and being embarrassed.
But when they met at the National Table Tennis Championships a year later, the result was not much better than that year.
Yuan Xiang didn't know what kind of drastic measures the Chinese team had given Zhu Qi during this period.
If Zhu Qi was a soaring eagle last year, he is now a giant beast with fangs fully grown!
More force!
Pass the ball faster!
Stronger rotation!
Even the loop ball can produce a little side spin!
Yuan Xiang was beaten dizzy by Zhu Qi and didn't even have the time to defend, let alone any offensive opportunities.
Sometimes I was pulled to the far side, sometimes to the near side, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right...
Yuan Xiang felt like a dog, being teased by Zhu Qi.
[Big score, Zhu Qi 3:0 in Yuan Xiang]...
I didn’t even win a single game in Yuanxiang!
The Japanese coach stamped his feet in anxiety.
No way.
No way!
In the original!
We can’t not win a single game!
This is so ugly!
When Haraka lost the third game, she walked to the Japanese coach with her head lowered, gritting her teeth and holding back her tears.
Of course she knew that this didn't look good, but what else could she do?
There is no way to break through!
There is no way around it!
There is no way to resist!
No matter what ball it is, Zhu Qi can catch it!
Her mind was in a daze the whole time, and it was difficult for her to even get the ball onto the table, let alone score from Zhu Qi.
This year she practiced looping balls very hard, and her performance was completely different from last year. Even her grandfather thought she had a good chance of winning the "Miriam" Cup when he came to see her.
Why?
Why is this happening?
Why Zhu Qi again?
The fourth game ends.
Zhu Qi didn't give her any chance at all.
Although Yuan Xiang's ball has strong spin, its speed is no match for those young boys from the Bayi team.
Although I was in the military control center, I was able to play back and forth with the men's table tennis team of the Bayi team, and often had the upper hand.
You don't even need to look at the ball, just listen to the sound of the ball and you can tell its approximate rotation, landing point, and rising period.
With a big score of [4:0], we left work quickly.
When shaking hands, Zhu Qi saw that Yuan Xiang was crying, and she kept crying until after the game, and she was in tears when she gave an interview in Japan.
Zhu Qi didn't understand what was said specifically, but after returning to the hotel and watching the CCTV5 translation, he realized that what Haraka said was: "I'm really sorry that I couldn't win the "Miriam" Cup for Japan, but I've had a knee injury since last year's World Games, and it's been bothering me throughout the year. Of course, this is no excuse for losing. In the future, I will definitely work harder to win more honors for the Japanese team."
To sum it up in one sentence, I had an old injury that didn't heal.
Japanese fans forgave her instantly and hoped that Harahara could regroup and get out of the shadow of the "second-defeat witch".
Zhu Qi disagreed. What is fake cannot become real, and what is real cannot become fake.
From the mixed team performance at the Tokyo World Games, Zhu Qi had a rough idea of Yuhara Xiang's level... To be honest, it was about the same as Jin Lili's.
The so-called No. 1 in Japan contains a lot of water.
It's probably because she has a grandfather who works in the sports department...
Yuan Xiang never expected that no one would pamper her after leaving Japan.
This is what is called a "man-made God."
/
Zhu Qi's results gave the coaching staff a reassurance.
But no one expected that in the group where A Shui was, there was an equally popular player who successfully advanced.
That is Jin Lili, who immigrated from China to South Korea and spent a year in the South Korean national team. She represented the South Korean team in this National Table Tennis Championships.
After the list of players for the National Table Tennis Championships came out, the sharp reporters immediately caught on to this information and rushed to publish several reports about Jin Lili the next day.
Although Jin Lili's statement this time was the same as in her previous life, it was different from the national team's philosophy.
But there are still many people speculating about the real reason why Jin Lili withdrew from the national team.
——Aren’t you doing well in the national team?
——Why did you go abroad?
——It’s still the Korean team that has always been at odds with the Chinese team.
——The team is so short of talent now, why doesn’t the national team keep him?
Some people also said that it might be because Jin Lili performed poorly in the Tokyo World Games, so the national team planned to give up on her and focus on training new players. She felt that there was no future in the national team and ran to South Korea.
Some rumors quickly spread among the fans.
As the attention gets high, many media will use this incident as a theme and publish various news in order to attract attention.
In addition to the final winner of this National Table Tennis Championships, the second most popular issue is Jin Lili's performance.
After all, he is a player from China and he will represent the South Korean team to play against his own people.
During the interview, Jin Lili also announced loudly: "I will try my best to play the game and stand on the podium to prove myself." However, she did not mention the reason why she immigrated to South Korea to play basketball.
As soon as this statement was made, even the national team's coaching staff sent a few people to record Jin Lili's game process.
I saw Jin Lili leading all the way and breaking out from Zone E to enter the quarterfinals.
Buddha also felt a little pressured. After all, this was a player he had played under his command... and most importantly -
A Shui defeated the player from Kazakhstan in Zone F and successfully entered the quarterfinals, where he happened to face Jin Lili.
The night before the quarterfinals.
Fo Ye, Chang Hongxia and A Shui all suffered from insomnia.
The pressure is unimaginable.
It was on the bus on the way to the stadium that Ah Shui finally took a light nap on Zhu Qi's shoulder.
When he saw Ah Shui’s condition, Fo Ye felt like the sky was falling.
But no one expected it.
The match between A Shui and Jin Lili ended so quickly.
Jin Lili defeated A Shui with a score of [4:0].
The third game even ended with a handicap of 11:1.
When the game was over, Jin Lili and A Shui both cried.
The Korean coaches ran around the field holding Kim Lili, as excited as if they were holding a fully formed "Miriam" cup.
In the afternoon, two men's table tennis players were eliminated in succession: Qin Xiaoba and Fat Tiger. Both were eliminated in the quarterfinals and returned home dejected.
Zhu Qi didn't know what a person would be like when he hit rock bottom.
But Zhu Qi knew that after the game, Ah Shui's whole condition was not right.
The three souls have lost their seven spirits.
No matter who talks to her, she is always slow to react.
While eating, there was a pile of pork belly in front of him, but he was just chewing on a steamed bun, his eyes were dull and his pupils were dazed.
But Zhu Qi, who lived with A Shui, knew that A Shui would cry secretly while taking a bath, using the sound of water to cover up his crying.
It is easy to wake up at night, then wipe away the tears from nightmares and continue to turn over and sleep.
This state is very similar to when Zhu Qi was just reborn.
I can’t sleep every night, and even if I do fall asleep, I wake up immediately and continue to stay up late into the night.
When Zhu Qi wanted to comfort her, Ah Shui would force herself to say that she was fine, and then she would not respond when she spoke to her again.
On the other hand, Zhu Qi played smoothly all the way, successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, and defeated a young girl who had just emerged from the Japanese team, successfully entering the finals.
In the same room, one is the quasi-champion to whom the coach devotes all his care; the other is Ah Shui, who was beaten to the bottom of his life by his former colleagues.
The contrast is so great that the impact is even greater.
Fo Ye and Xu Dong specifically called Zhu Qi out for various psychological counseling.
"A Shui's poor performance this time was partly due to her own mental state. After Jin Lili took a one-game lead, she was constantly being led by the nose. You must learn from her mistakes. No matter what, you must first stabilize your skills and tactics," said Foye. "Hongxia will be there to comfort A Shui. You should focus on preparing for the final. Nothing is more important than winning the National Table Tennis Championships!"
Zhu Qi could only nod silently.
Everyone is used to seeing Ah Shuiping's optimistic appearance and her optimistic attitude, which allows her to mobilize people in an extremely depressing atmosphere before a game.
But the atmosphere group itself is no longer able to perform well, and everyone is filled with gloom.
Even Maomao, who was far away in Los Angeles, watched the game on TV and called Zhu Qi to ask about A Shui's situation.
Zhu Qi said: "I definitely can't accept it. I've secretly cried under the covers many times."
"Lily has been working very hard since arriving in Korea. She also prepared thoroughly for this National Table Tennis Championships. Ah Shui's loss was partly due to Lily's superior play. After all, Lily is four years older than her and has more solid fundamentals. And when they were on the national team, Ah Shui rarely beat her. But no one can predict the future; Ah Shui hasn't even experienced her prime yet..."
"Yeah..." Zhu Qi sighed.
Chang Hongxia also comforted A Shui for a long time, but it seemed to have no effect. In order to let A Shui recover as soon as possible, Xu Dong did not let A Shui come to be Zhu Qi's sparring partner but called Zuo Zuo and You You.
The night before the final, Zhu Qi returned home early and saw Ah Shui lying quietly on the bed.
There was a bowl of rice noodles next to it, which should have been bought by Chang Hongxia for her.
But the chopsticks were placed aside motionless, obviously not eating.
The soup inside has been absorbed, and the whole rice noodles have turned into a lump and collapsed inside.
Zhu Qi sighed, sat on the bed and patted Ah Shui: "I haven't had dinner yet, let's go out for something to eat together?"
"I'm not hungry, you go and eat." Her voice was tearful.
Zhu Qi had no appetite and started packing his golf bag.
Ah Shui curled up in the quilt, revealing only a pair of red and swollen eyes from crying. His voice choked with sobs: "Bao Bao, shouldn't I play singles?"
"How is that possible? The National Table Tennis Championships are open to the top 64 players in the world rankings, and you earned your singles spot by accumulating points in singles matches. How could you possibly be unsuitable for singles?" Zhu Qi sat back and consoled her. "Besides, there are wins and losses in competitions, that's normal. Maomao and I have both lost before."
"But I lost so miserably, and I lost to... If it was Maomao or you, it wouldn't be like this." A Shui's eyes were red again.
When the game was over, the newspapers used this moment as a stunt and published it in all the most prominent sections.
——[After a year away, a former national team player represented South Korea and severely defeated our players! 】
This was too fatal for the 17-year-old A Shui.
After all, he is still a high school student and has to accept criticism on the front page of the newspaper.
Although Xu Dong and Fo Ye didn't say much to A Shui, A Shui blamed himself very much.
Seeing Ah Shui now immersed in deep self-blame and internal friction, Zhu Qi thought for a moment and said, "The quarterfinals doesn't mean the eighth from the bottom in the world. It means that you can reach the top eight in a competition filled with top players from all over the world. And you defeated all the players in Zone F and defended your own eighth zone. If the Chinese team wins, it will also be due to your contribution."
Ah Shui sobbed and cried loudly while hugging Zhu Qi.
Zhu Qi didn't say anything. She knew that Sister Xia and Master Fo must have said everything they needed to say. Now Ah Shui needed to vent his emotions on his own, and she would just be there to serve as a pillow.
After Ah Shui started to cry until she choked up, Zhu Qi reached out and pinched her tear-stained face. "Oh, our national table tennis team's captain's eyes are so swollen. It's so ugly! How is she going to go to Chaojing Dance Academy to seduce male actors in the future?"
"I'm not fishing anymore. I've lost face. I'm just going to stay at the management center and I'm not going anywhere else." Ah Shui's mouth flattened, and he was about to cry again. "You're still calling me the team's flower? I'm the laughing stock now, wow—"
She buried her face in the quilt. Although she was still wailing, she was no longer crying.
Zhu Qi patted her butt and said with a smile, "Who dares to laugh at you? I'll take care of her! Also, Jin Lili didn't make it to the finals either. She was defeated by the North Korean player. Before she came here, didn't she say that she must prove herself and must stand on the highest podium? The Korean media also boasted that she was the sharp sword that could help the Korean team win the gold medal, and the result is still the same? She still has to cheer up and prepare for her bronze medal match. Because everyone only remembers an athlete's last game. You don't want everyone to think of Fang Miao only when they mention her in the end, right?"
A Shui stopped crying, crawled out from under the quilt again, and said that he was a little hungry too.
There was no takeout now, so the two of them could only sit on the edge of the bed and unwrap a few sausages that Ah Shui had brought from the national team.
As Ah Shui ate, he opened his eyes, which were swollen like walnuts, and said, "Bao Bao, you must win tomorrow!"
In addition to the expectation that the Chinese team will win the championship.
More importantly, A Shui knew how painful it was to lose, and she didn't want Zhu Qi to experience it too.
This feeling is like having a knife scraping your flesh, and it is impossible to heal without losing a layer of skin.
It's so painful.
It's so uncomfortable.
It's so suffocating.
When the last ball was lost, A Shui even felt like, "I wish I could die right here on the spot."
But she felt that Baobao was different from herself, and Baobao was never afraid of losing.
The Buddha also talked about his own problems, that he was too timid, too reserved, and too rigid.
When there is an opportunity to play, I dare not fight for it.
I always think about being steady, waiting a little longer, and then trying hard when I am sure I can get points.
This style of play is very suitable in doubles, because there is a very aggressive Baobao or Maomao next to him, and A Shui only needs to follow behind and act as a fortress to prevent himself from losing points.
But not singles.
It is easy for the opponent to escape and then counterattack.
Jin Lili also took advantage of this point of Ah Shui, which is why she was able to stay ahead all the way.
When everyone thought that Ah Shui might never recover, Zhu Qi felt relieved.
She knew that Ah Shui would not be that fragile, it just took time for him to accept it.
A Shui also has high expectations for himself, otherwise he would not have been looking for ways to improve himself when he was still a young sparring partner.
For Ah Shui, this competition was nerve-wracking but also a good training for his mind.
At least the failure happened when she was 17, still young enough to have enough time to heal.
There are countless more competitions in the future.
People cannot stand still forever.
After Zhu Qi's talk therapy, A Shui felt better and was able to cheer up and appear in Zhu Qi's final audience the next day.
Xu Dong was very pleased to see A Shui. He sat next to her and chattered about some follow-up training issues, improvement of skills and tactics, how to optimize problems encountered during the game, etc.
A Shui finally responded and nodded along with every word Xu Dong said.
Before the national table tennis finals began, a bronze medal match was held.
What was very dramatic was that in Zhu Qi's one-eighth zone, she defeated an 18-year-old Korean newcomer, Ahn Ji-hye, in the semi-finals.
This Korean newcomer plays quite well, but he is somewhat different from Li Keshan back then.
Like A Shui, she is a left-handed horizontal player.
It's pretty good to be able to reach the semi-finals.
In fact, in the sport of table tennis, the left hand is generally called the holy body of doubles. In singles, the left hand will be at a disadvantage when facing each other with the right hand.
And Ahn Ji-hye's identity is a bit sensitive... she is a North Korean defector.
"North Korean defector? What does that mean?" Qin Xiaoba turned around curiously.
Xu Dong explained to her, "My grandfather's generation was from the north of the peninsula, but because of some things, the whole family fled to the south."
"Oh, so he was originally North Korean, and later became South Korean." Qin Xiaoba summed it up in one sentence.
"North Korea's economy hasn't been very good since World War II. I heard there was a major famine over 20 years ago, and many North Koreans defected during that time," Daxiong said. "This 18-year-old Korean's identity is also quite sensitive, similar to Jin Lili's."
One is from a family of North Korean defectors, and the other just immigrated there a year ago.
Both reached the semifinals.
But they were eliminated by the Chinese team and the North Korean team.
The bronze medal battle was equivalent to a civil war in South Korea, and in the end Ahn Ji-hye won.
Next up... is tomorrow's final.
Da Xiong ran into Matsukaze Ichito again, but this time he failed to unleash his inner strength that he had in the mixed team event at the World Games, and lost to Matsukaze Ichito for the second time in the competition for third place.
Instead, Song Linzhou made it to the finals and will compete against Songfeng Yidu in the men's group tomorrow afternoon.
The result... everyone can predict it.
Song Linzhou has a very low chance of winning against the rising star Song Feng Yidu.
The men's team's head coach Shi Ge felt like he had aged several years overnight, and his body was hunched when he went out.
But Foye is relatively better, at least it was Zhu Qi who made it to the finals.
Xu Dong was also sitting in the audience. She accompanied Zhu Qi from [64 to 32] to the finals.
But today is the women's singles final, and Ren Xinhua once again decided to give Zhu Qi off-court guidance.
After the bronze medal match, Jin Lili sat in the audience and watched Ren Xinhua preparing to give guidance to Zhu Qi. She felt sour in her heart and bit her fingers hard, nibbling off the dead skin on her nails bit by bit.
Ren Xinhua is very discerning in watching the game, and a few suggestions from him can really increase the chances of winning the game.
The fact that Zhu Qi was given the honor of being Ren Xinhua's off-court coach also shows that the national team is now putting all its focus on training her.
The game begins.
Both players enter the field.
Zhu Qi strode into the arena.
The first thing you see is the Holy Grail facing the entrance door, its gilded edge emitting a colorful soft light in the suspended light column.
This is the highest honor in women's table tennis singles.
"Miriam" Cup.
Players from both teams enter the field.
This time when introducing Zhu Qi, the suffix at the end became a little longer.
——[Aogong, Swedish World Cup double champion, Tokyo World Games mixed doubles champion, mixed team champion, 18-year-old player from the Chinese national team, Zhu Qi.]
However, the other party used Cantonese, but this is probably what he meant.
Zhu Qi thought.
The North Korean player's title was obviously much shorter than his own, but before this competition, Ren Xinhua repeatedly reminded him not to underestimate the enemy.
Zhu Qi had also heard of her fame in his previous life. She was once listed as one of the top three players in the world.
When both parties shook hands.
The girl was small in stature, with thin shoulders, and her hands were small when she clenched them, so she looked quite young.
I heard from Sister Xu Dong that this girl is the captain of the North Korean women's team and is the same age as Zhu Qi...
"Ah? She is the captain of the North Korean women's team? So young?" Qin Xiaoba was very surprised when he heard Xu Dong say that.
Xu Dong nodded. "Well, to be precise, she was the captain of the women's team when she was 16. North Korea's system for selecting captains is the same as ours, and both look at overall performance. They must be top-notch in terms of team seniority, technical achievements, and management skills."
He has all these abilities at the age of 16.
Wow.
After choosing the side, start warming up by stretching the ball.
Zhu Qi placed the ball on his palm and on the table and bounced it twice. After confirming the elasticity of the ball, he swung the racket and hit the ball out.
When the white ball shuttled back and forth between the left and right sides, Zhu Qi felt the uniqueness of the anti-arc rubber.
It's completely different from the rubbers I usually come into contact with.
The ball was a little soft and floaty, like the skipping stone we played as kids.
When switching to the backhand, the North Korean girl exerted a lot of strength, which was no different from players like Zhu Qi and Maomao who mainly used anti-glue as their playing style.
Zhu Qi felt a little depressed.
She knew that this would be the toughest match she had ever faced in this National Table Tennis Championships.
【Author’s words】
The character Yuan Xiang represents an "artificial god" who is all show and no substance. He is highly praised but in reality his level is the same as Jin Lili's. His future will be taken care of by A Shui.
Bao Bao will have a stronger opponent~[666] The next chapter will be released at 18:00, and it is not finished yet.
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