Ping Pong Life

Chapter 227 The final swan song
Zou Zhengyu did not send the most versatile conventional short backspin, but directly sent a backhand long ball from the baseline.

This is a billiard ball, even a little too much, which means that he is not afraid of Wang Chao's direct lateral movement, and then explodes sideways.

An hour ago, the Portuguese player Antonio also served such a ball after being beaten by Wang Chao. Wang Chao's response was to rush forward without hesitation.

But this time Wang Chao didn't rush, he rubbed the ball back steadily, and rubbed it into a forehand bottom line long ball.

Both he and Zou Zhengyu are left-handed, and they both hold the racket horizontally with their left hands. When the two left-handers meet, Wang Chao feels a little uncomfortable.

This is normal, because almost all the opponents he has encountered in the past six months have held the racket with the forehand, and the only Lu Jia in the same team has the racket with the left hand.

But Lu Jia is too weak, even if he holds the racket with his feet, it won't affect Wang Chao.

So Zou Zhengyu was the first left-handed general of the national name that Wang Chao encountered in his life.

This is a small advantage of Zou Zhengyu.

Wang Chao rubbed the forehand baseline long ball to Zou Zhengyu, which was also introduced, and it was also a very good opportunity for a sideways burst.

But Zou Zhengyu didn't rush, he pulled a high-hanging arc.

The auditorium was very quiet. Li Zhengzhi and Lin Zijun, who were relatively young, did not understand what the game between the two of them was, but people like Bayer and Zhu Shixian who had fought against Zou Zhengyu before, had already understood Wang's game. super intent.

Wang Chao's intention is actually very simple: not to give Zou Zhengyu a chance to hit the backhand.

Huaping's three main players each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

It is these strengths that have given them their current status.

It is also these weaknesses that prevent them from making further progress.

Fang Xiaobo has the world's top forehand lethality, but his backhand is extremely weak. Although he holds the racket horizontally, his forehand is almost the whole court.

Yan Pingan possesses the world's first-class left-handed fast-paced attack, with comprehensive skills and almost no flaws, but he lacks strength, and he can't kill people every time he gets a chance.

On the other hand, Zou Zhengyu has the best backhand ability in the world, and his backhand has completely different characteristics from other backhand proficient players.

Fan Xiaodong's backhand emphasizes power and spin, Jiang Peirong's backhand emphasizes vigorous blocking, Lin Zijun's backhand emphasizes speed and extreme difficulty, but Zou Zhengyu's strongest is COSCO Taiwan's continuous recoil looping ball.

To this day, he is the only Huaping player who can compete with European players' forehand heavy loops simply by relying on COSCO Taiwan's anti-looping ball.

And this is exactly the opposite of the tactical concept of "fierce forehand and stable backhand" of Huaping players over the years.

So many years ago, Zou Zhengyu was actually the most favored by the coaches. His style of play was so unique and his backhand was so extraordinary that he was almost the best among the 29-year-old four-man team.

He did not perform well in the world's three major competitions, but he has won some other awards with high gold content.

For example, the men's singles and men's doubles champions in the table tennis championships.

For example, the National Games men's team and men's doubles champion.

Such as the Asian Games men's team champion.

Such as the Asian Cup mixed doubles champion.

He even defended the men's doubles title in the National Games.

Most importantly, he won the Table Tennis Super League title and annual mvp title.

All Huaguo domestic champions and Asian champions, in fact, are slightly higher than the three major competitions in terms of difficulty alone, because there are too many masters in Huaguo.

The championship of the National Games and the MVP of the Table Tennis Super League are honors that foreign professional players all over the world dream of winning but will never get.

But Zou Zhengyu got them all.

Even outside of singles, he has shown strong men's doubles and mixed doubles abilities, giving the impression that he is omnipotent - that's before his weaknesses are completely exposed.

He later fell from his greatest glory due to a problem with his forehand.

He has no problem with the power and form of his forehand, and he has a high turnover rate, but he has no confidence in his forehand.

The backhand is too brilliant, so he habitually relies on the backhand. Even if the opponent hits the ball to the center of the table, he is also used to catch the ball with the backhand.

And after entering the new generation, he has exposed another fatal weakness: he likes to step down.

Don't forget, the strongest point of his backhand is actually the stalemate after retreating from the table, not the duel against the table.

His style of play needs space to stretch his arms and develop strength.

So at this moment, Wang Chao, facing such a player with an unprecedentedly strong backhand, would rather sacrifice a little bit of his domineering style of double-sided loop ball attacking the whole table, and first stop Zou Zhengyu's backhand.

This is not a compromise, but the improvisation that a player must have on the court, and it will not weaken the kingly heart he is trying to cultivate.

He hit the ball to the bottom line of Zou Zhengyu's forehand position, and Zou Zhengyu really didn't want to make a forehand burst, he would rather pull up the loop.

And the high-hanging arc fell to Wang Chao's side, which was an excellent opportunity to attack.

Wang Chao moved sideways directly, pulling a heavy arc with his forehand, still staring at Zou Zhengyu's forehand.

Zou Zhengyu didn't want to fight forehand, he would rather move his body and pull the ball over with his backhand.

But because the ball started with a high-hanging arc, which was very long and was always against the chest, the ball was high, and Wang Chao took it directly without hesitation.

He even omitted the pull because he needed to make the motion smaller, the arm swing faster, the ball faster, and would rather give up the spin for it.

Facing such a fast forehand, Zou Zhengyu had no choice but to retreat.

He is used to the back-and-forth style of play. He likes to hit the down ball, and he doesn't like to hit the head ball.

So before they knew it, the situation became that Wang Chao was close to the stage and Zou Zhengyu was in the middle.

Zou Zhengyu was still looking for an opportunity to pull the ball backhand. Since Wang Chao always hit the ball to his right hand, he moved directly to the right hand, wanting to forcibly pull back.

But in this way, there was a gap, and Wang Chao hit the ball to his left hand at a wide angle without hesitation.

The ball was directly killed, because Zou Zhengyu exposed too much space, which can already be regarded as an obvious mistake.

1:0, Wang Chao leads.

Zou Zhengyu served again, still staring at Wang Chao's backhand baseline.

He still wanted to find opportunities for himself to counterattack by forcing Wang Chao to backhand the bottom line.

This time Wang Chao gave him a chance and directly rubbed the ball to Zou Zhengyu's backhand baseline.

The ball was actually rubbed very well, it was not a good opportunity, but Zou Zhengyu's backhand was full of desire, he did not hesitate to rip the backhand hard.

Extremely fast, powerful, with a strong side spin, he showed a very high level of backhand position.

But in fact, this is not his real backhand power, because the king's backhand was not long enough, so Zou Zhengyu didn't fully stretch it.

If he were allowed to hit backhands and continuously recoil heavy arcs, Wang Chao might have a hard time coping with it, but at this level, for Wang Chao, who has greatly increased his strength this year, it is still within the control range. He just simply With a slight reverse twist, the ball was pulled back to the baseline in Zou Zhengyu's forehand position.

Zou Zhengyu managed to attack a board, but he was not willing to give up, his body quickly moved sideways, and he forcibly backhanded and then tore.

Without hesitation, Wang Chao pulled the ball back to Zou Zhengyu's backhand at a wide angle, hit Zou Zhengyu again with a deadly gap, and successfully scored.

2: 0.

By this time, Yan Ping'an and Fang Xiaobo in the stands had already loosened their fists quietly, just as the expectations in their hearts were gradually fading away.

They feel a deep sadness.

Wang Chao's style of play is not complicated, it is clear at a glance. He simply attacks Zou Zhengyu's forehand, forcing Zou Zhengyu to move laterally, and then changes the line to attack the backhand gap, with one fatal blow. This style of play doesn't even require a decent attack. , Zou Zhengyu was beaten to death just by moving left and right.

But Zou Zhengyu still insisted on playing this way, because he was obsessed with the backhand.

Since you have obsessions, you will always be targeted and have no solution.

In fact, all three of them have obsessions.

Fang Xiaobo had the opportunity to strengthen his backhand back then.

Zou Zhengyu also had the opportunity to strengthen his forehand.

Yan Ping'an has a lot of opportunities to develop his strength.

But in the most glorious young age, they believed too much in their own strengths. No matter how much the coach warned, criticized, and persuaded, they still made the mistake of young people's arrogance and arrogance.

At the beginning, they could all hang Sun Tianlong up and beat them by relying on their talents.

But the difference between Sun Tianlong and them is that Sun Tianlong has been practicing.Practice wherever you are weak, and make up for where you are weak.But the three of them, holding on to their strengths, refused to let go.

At that time, they didn't know that playing table tennis to the extreme was actually following the wooden barrel theory, and even if there was a short board, it would not work.

So in the end, their weaknesses were constantly studied and magnified, and became fatal injuries, but Sun Tianlong had no weaknesses anymore.

remorse?
Naturally there is.

But the complex emotions in my heart are not only regrets, but also some kind of helpless feelings about the changes in the current situation and technological updates.

Zou Zhengyu's backhand is the strongest so far, but the players of the new generation have begun not to retreat, so what's the point of his strong backhand?

It's just a dragon-slaying skill that can't be used in the game.

On the contrary, it is the habit of stepping back that he has developed due to his backhand characteristics, which has become his most fatal flaw in this new generation.

He has retired for more than ten years, and he is used to it. If you tell him not to retreat, he can't do it.

So he is doomed to be eliminated in this new era. After the big waves, old people die on the beach one after another.

Even a powerful existence like Sun Tianlong has clearly begun to try not to step down in the competitions in recent months. This means that no matter how powerful the manpower is, it cannot stop the general trend.

At this time, the court has been replaced by Wang Chao to serve.

Wang Chao still used a very simple and rough style of play. He didn't pick up the varied routines of last year. He just simply hit Zou Zhengyu's forehand.

If you have a flaw, I will stare at the flaw and beat you until you die.

It's that simple.

Soon, the third ball turned into a stalemate again, but Wang Chao did not retreat, but Zou Zhengyu had already retreated three steps.

At such a distance, he finally successfully completed the backhand heavy arc.

However, there is no point anymore. Wang Chao, who does not retreat, has ten thousand ways to resolve this situation with his delicate touch.

He was just a short call, and Zou Zhengyu died.

The fourth ball still turned into a near table and a far table. Wang Chao turned a big angle this time, and Zou Zhengyu died again.

The ball was actually very beautiful, because Zou Zhengyu habitually sought opportunities to pull the ball vigorously, which made the scene very intense. When the players released their strength on both sides of the table, the ball would have a very graceful trajectory in the air, which aroused the audience's attention. Their rounds of applause.

But as professional players, the audience in the first two rows remained silent unanimously.

Even the stinky waterfowl eagle is not in the mood to say weird things.

He is also in the 29-year-old group, and he also practiced the retreat style. He also felt a certain melancholy of the changing times from this game.

The former genius was worn out by time, and finally died with his wings broken, because the things he practiced are outdated in today's era.

Uncle Bai, who had always maintained a friendly smile, secretly glanced sideways at Lin Zijun who was sitting not far away at this moment, and there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

Even the king of Europe saw the advanced nature of the non-retreat style of play from this game, and therefore became more vigilant against Lin Zijun, who practiced this style of play since childhood.

Bayer wanted to qualify, to make a good start for the German Table Tennis Association in the first match of the year, and to steal a championship while his nemesis Sun Tianlong was away, so he had to beat Lin Zijun in the same group.

However, when he fought Lin Zijun the day after tomorrow, would he really be able to react to such a fast-paced style of play?

After all, I am 34 years old...

Bayer faintly realized that the structure of the world table tennis world may have to change again, because the demand for not retiring from Taiwan is too fast, which is extremely unfriendly to this group of European veterans.

But the good news is that young players in Europe seem to be starting to rise.

At this time, the referee blew the whistle, because the first game was over, and the final score was 11:2, and Wang Chaoda easily won the game.

Zou Zhengyu didn't show any frustration, he just calmly came to the sidelines, drank water, wiped his sweat, and sat silently on the chair, not knowing what he was thinking.

No one bothered him.

Because this is a civil war, both He Jingping and his coach have maintained a tacit silence.

Before the second game was about to start, Yan Pingan suddenly shouted to the field: "Zhengyu."

Zou Zhengyu looked up.

"If you can't win, just abstain." Yan Ping'an was smiling. He stood up, gestured with his hands, and tried to keep his tone relaxed: "It's no shame to lose to Wang Chao. Let's fight again in the next round."

Zou Zhengyu smiled, shook his head, walked slowly to the field, lowered his body again, and waited for Wang Chao's serving round.

Yan Pingan opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but was pulled by Fang Xiaobo next to him and sat down.

Both of them understood Zou Zhengyu's mind at this moment.

This may really be his last battle, so even if it is a disastrous defeat, he still hopes to finish it.

He hoped that on his resume, he lost the last battle instead of admitting defeat.

"You can lose, but you can't admit defeat", this is the teaching they have firmly engraved in their hearts since they entered Huaping for 11 years.

So start well and end well.

25分钟后，邹正宇被王超4：0击败，四局比分分别是11：2，11：3，11：5，11：7。

Zou Zhengyu played very awkwardly and worked very hard. Although he was crushed by Wang Chao in every aspect, he showed a rare tenacity in his entire career, and he persisted until the end without collapsing.

His style of play was wrong, but he did get better and better, getting more points every game.

After the beating, he shook hands with Wang Chao, and then embraced actively. Then, he collapsed on Wang Chao's shoulders, as if his bones had been pulled out.

Even the players from foreign associations have already felt an invisible and intangible dignified atmosphere. Bayer, who has always had a good relationship with Huaping, couldn't help but patted Xiao Fei's shoulder in the front row: "Xiao, he wants to Have you retired?"

Xiao Fei shook his head, but said nothing.

Xiao Fei hadn't heard any rumors that Zou Zhengyu was going to retire, but he did feel at the moment that the scene he saw in front of him was like the last swan song of an outdated genius.

(End of this chapter)