Ping Pong Life

Chapter 226 The Last Game

In fact, in the qualifying schedule of the Table Tennis Open over the years, abstention is commonplace.

The qualifying match is a typical hell schedule. Compared with the main match, it is like a stepmother's child. For example, Wang Chao's group, a total of seven players, use one table, and they have to finish the game within a day. In a big cycle, in theory, you have to play 21 games. Even if you play every game very fast, all 4:0, it will take half an hour, and those 21 games will take more than ten hours.

But in fact, how can a game be completed in half an hour?The duration of most games is about four to five 10 minutes. If there is a chip in the group and the final game is played, it is common for a game to play for nine to 10 minutes.

So in this case, in fact, the length of the day is unlikely to guarantee that every group can finish playing.

So the ITTF and the organizers are very happy to have someone withdraw from the game.

After all, in principle, there is no live broadcast or commentary for the qualifying competition. Even if you really want to watch it, the organizer will give you at most one camera to shoot the table from a single perspective, and ignore everything else. The specific results of the game are only recorded by a referee and a deputy referee. The referee is also responsible for reversing the score while in charge of arbitration.

It's a bit shabby, but it's the case.

Of course, with the global rise of the live broadcast industry, there will also be those small sports anchors who find a new way to broadcast games that others do not broadcast. Fossil-level ashes lovers.

Therefore, the qualifying rounds have always had two endings: "qualified" and "not qualified". There is no such thing as "I played well, although I lost but amazed the audience, and became famous in the first battle".

Even though defeat is an honor, it only belongs to the main match.

The main race is like a group of nobles wearing gorgeous coats in a graceful battle under the eyes of everyone, and every detail will be infinitely magnified.

And the qualifying round was like a group of slaves in rags fighting in a dark dungeon, they either got out or died silently inside.

So when a player finds that he really has no chance at all, then retiring is the best choice.

When Antonio was divided into groups last night, when he learned that there were two Huaping players in his group, he actually wanted to book a ticket. He just had a sudden whim and wanted to feel the strength of the Huaping players. Nice experience.

But after experiencing Wang Chao today, he felt that life would be worse than death, and he was really too lazy to experience Zou Zhengyu again.

As soon as Antonio left, an avalanche effect was triggered immediately, and two players in the group followed closely behind and chose to abstain.

In a blink of an eye, there were only four people left in this group.

In addition to Wang Chao and Zou Zhengyu, there is a kimchi junior player and a Danish veteran player left.

The Danish veteran was the first to play and had already accumulated a point. Although he felt a little guilty facing the two Huaping players, he still insisted not to leave with a fluke mentality.

As for the Kimchi country junior, he upholds the consistent tenacity of the Kimchi country players, and it is impossible to retire no matter what. At most, at most, his face is a little pale, his lips are a little trembling, and his hands and feet are a little stiff.

His coach was bowing his head and whispering to him, chattering and chattering, looking very excited.

The referee spoke at this time and announced that Zou Zhengyu would play against the Danish veteran in the next match.

But Wang Chao didn't leave the table at this time, he said: "May I finish my game first?"

The referee was taken aback.

According to the rules, it is actually possible, because the circulation in the qualifying group is really not that particular, and whoever is idle usually plays, as long as the table is not empty.

But now there are only four people, so there is plenty of time, so the referee subconsciously thinks a bit too much, and he hopes to play as fair as possible in this broad environment.

The so-called fairness is to try not to let the same player play two games and give him enough rest time.

Just as he was about to shake his head, he heard someone shouting from the stands: "Let him fight first."

It was Bayer who spoke.

Uncle Bai made a special trip to see Wang Chao today. After watching it, he has to warm up and practice, and prepare for the big battle tomorrow. Of course he doesn’t want to wait here. It happens that the referee is from Europe and knows Uncle Bai very well, so bye Uncle spoke directly.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Pique and other European players shouted together: "Yes, yes, let him play first, we will wait and see."

As soon as the European players shouted, Asian players such as Weng Chunting and Shuiniaoying also began to shout: "Let him play first, and call it a day."

After all, everyone is a professional player, and time is precious. Who wants to watch Zou Zhengyu and the Danish veteran, two guys who have no chance of winning the championship, play?

Only Lin Zijun didn't say a word because of his tender face, but his pretty face was slightly red, and he was obviously very excited, especially thinking that this kind of off-court player yelling at the on-court referee was quite special, just like when he was a child sneaking into the game hall to play Like games, there is a different kind of stimulation.

The referee was a little confused by this battle, so he could only nod obediently: "Okay."

Although Antonio is gone, Wang Chao can still accumulate one point for winning the game, so now he and the Danish veteran are tied for first place in the group with one point.

The Danish veteran volunteered to face Wang Chao.

He is not very confident, but he feels that his luck is like a beautiful soap bubble, which will burst when he pokes it. In this case, he might as well fight Wang Chao earlier. If he wins, he will continue to dream and fight again. , if you lose, give up this fluke as soon as possible and book a ticket for this afternoon.

So three or ten minutes later, he was lightly beheaded by Wang Chao.

Throughout the game, Wang Chao still simply adopted a whole-table offensive style of non-retreat, but again, because the opponent was weak, he couldn't see his true strength.

The group of professional players in the auditorium saw some clues, and found that Wang Chao's offense seemed to be better than last year, and the improvement in strength was obvious, because last year Wang Chao's forehand in the table was only picky and not strong. Pull, but today he has pulled the ball more than once inside the table.

The Danish veteran lost this game, so he abstained without saying a word, turned around and left.

So there are only 3 people left in this group.

The referee made a gesture to signal Kimchi Junior Junior to come on the field.

His idea is very good, the opponents will progress step by step from weak to strong, this wheel battle is just like a big drama at the beginning of the year, how wonderful it is to save the climax until the end.

He believes the audience thinks the same way.

But he was wrong again...

"What are you doing? It's such a waste of time. Our time is precious, isn't it?" Shui Niaoying yelled directly: "Let them Huaping civil war!"

The referees didn't even bother to talk to him, this man was too stinky, even though he was ranked very high in the world, few people in the world table tennis would give him face.

However, Uncle Bai also echoed, "Yes, yes, let Zou Zhengyu come on, can you show some consideration for us? Don't make us wait forever."

The referee was very aggrieved, and he realized that after all his painstaking efforts, he still paid by mistake.

Zou Zhengyu walked out amid everyone's expectations.

He shook hands with Wang Chao, and said with a low laugh, "Hit hard, don't hold back...but don't shave your head either, save me some face."

Wang Chao couldn't help laughing: "Of course."

He had actually considered whether Zou Zhengyu would be hostile to him. After all, with Zou Zhengyu's strength, he had steadily entered the main match, but he met himself.

Huaping players are generally very open-minded when they eliminate each other in the main match, because they have already proved themselves by entering the main match, and they will not be punished by the coaching staff if they are eliminated by their own people.

But the qualifiers are different. As a Huaping player, if he fails to make it to the main match, it will seriously reduce the evaluation of the coaching staff. Veterans, especially Zou Zhengyu's secondary main force, will be severely punished if they fail to make it to the main match, and they may even not have the chance to play again for the whole year.

And this has nothing to do with who he was eliminated by.

This is the inhumane part of the Huaping system, but it is also the inevitable result of Huaping's "achievement-only theory" for many years.

Fortunately, Zou Zhengyu is very open-minded.

He even deliberately made a small joke with Wang Chao, just to help Wang Chao relieve his psychological burden.

Both sides of the game were in position, the referee tossed a coin, and finally Zou Zhengyu got the right to serve.

At this moment, Wang Chao obviously felt that the atmosphere was completely different from before.

The professional players in the auditorium stopped chatting and joking, and all opened their eyes wide.

Zou Zhengyu even lowered his body slowly, trying to get as low as possible, and even faintly had the charm of Hooker's "toad squat".

This proves that he attaches great importance to today's game.

Because he is really not young anymore, he is already 29 years old.

He, Fang Xiaobo, Yan Ping'an, Xiao Fei, the four of them entered the second national team in the same year, and entered the first national team in the same year. At that time, they also had a common competitor, Sun Tianlong.

At that time, everyone was desperately improving, and they were all trying to move forward, because in a place like Huaping, every day is like sailing against the current, if you don’t advance, you will retreat.

At that time, the invincible man in the world was Wang Wendong, and everyone was chasing his footsteps and sprinting after him, but Sun Tianlong and Xiao Fei rushed to the front while the remaining three fell. Team up.

They chased hard, but after chasing and chasing, they found that Wang Wendong had crossed the finish line and completed his merits, so the leader in front became Sun Tianlong.

They continued chasing, chasing and chasing, and found that a younger person entered the track and rushed to the position of keeping pace with them in the shortest time.

This group of people has a unified title called "Six Little Dragons of Huaping in the Golden Age".

The six little dragons were just like their group. Some ran fast, while others ran slowly. In the end, Lin Li and Luo Jiu rushed to the front and came from behind.

Later, another younger boy entered the track and rushed ahead of them again, his name was Bai Feng.

Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, Zou Zhengyu found that he couldn't run anymore.

He looked down at himself, only to realize that he was no longer the 18-year-old boy, he was 29 years old.

His strength is not as good as it was back then, his technique has been completely finalized, and it is no longer possible for him to overtake the people in front of him.

Before he knew it, Sun Tianlong, who was running side by side with him, was about to cross the finish line like Wang Wendong.

Looking back, he was shocked to find that a young man who was only 18 years old like him had already run into this track again.

The person who ran over this time was Wang Chao.

He saw people warming up outside the runway, they were underage Lu Feiyang and Fan Xiaodong.

Only at this time did Zou Zhengyu realize so clearly: My time has completely passed.

I was a genius, but I didn't reach the heights I expected in my most glorious years, so I fell behind.

And now, I'm closing the curtain.

This year is his last year, and he hopes to officially retire at the age of 30, so this year he wants to work as hard as he can, regardless of injuries, physical strength, and sequelae. Same as Sun Tianlong this year.

He knew that both Yan Ping'an and Fang Xiaobo thought so.

So the three of them have already made an appointment in private, and they must stagger the game schedule with Sun Tianlong and Luo Jiu.

Three 29-year-old veterans, with a slim dream of winning the championship, want to come back to the glory at the end of their careers. No matter who wins the championship among the three, the other two will be honored, because they have been closely united and share weal and woe. .

They successfully won the few opportunities to play from Cai Guodong.

But the opportunity is not fixed, everything depends on the specific performance.

If he can't even make it to the main match, all his matches this year will come to an end today.

Cai Guodong will never allow a player like him who has no chance of winning the championship to continue to be active in the world after making such a serious mistake.

This will make Huaping lose face.

Therefore, it is really not an exaggeration at all. This game at this moment is very likely to be the last international game of his career.

But at this moment, only Yan Ping'an and Fang Xiaobo in the whole world know about this matter.

At the last moment, Zou Zhengyu turned his head and glanced at the auditorium.

He saw that his two friends had subconsciously clenched their fists, showing more nervous expressions than him.

There are also relatives in Huaping. If possible, the three of them are willing to give up one year of life each in exchange for Wang Chao losing the game today.

Lin Li looked suspiciously at Yan Pingan beside him. He felt some invisible tension, but he didn't understand it.

Xiao Fei also glanced sideways, and vaguely guessed something.

(End of this chapter)