Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 431 Fairness comes first!

On the eve of the Olympic men's tennis singles, the ATP and WTA jointly announced a major decision.

The long-awaited Hawkeye system will be put into use at the US Open, more than half a year earlier than before.

Starting next year, the Hawkeye system will gradually be launched on the ATP and WTA tours at various stations.

According to the regulations: In tennis matches, each player has two chances to challenge in each set. If the challenge is successful, you can get another chance. If the game is dragged into a tie-break, an additional challenge opportunity will be added.

This makes many tennis players happy.

From now on, everyone no longer has to be upset because of the referee's misjudgment.

In a tennis match, the speed of flying and rebounding of tennis balls is so fast.

Both referees and players often rely on their own intuition to determine whether the ball is out of bounds.

If there is a conflict between a player and a referee, there is only one possibility.

There was a conflict in their intuitive judgments.

The player feels that the ball is not out of bounds, but the referee feels that the ball is out of bounds.

In tennis matches, players' mentality is very important. Once it explodes, their performance on the spot may plummet.

The emergence of the Hawk Eye system can greatly stabilize players' emotions.

For example, if he thinks the ball did not go out of bounds, but the referee thinks it did, the player can raise a "Hawkeye Challenge."

When the "Eagle Eye Replay" shows that the ball did go out of bounds, the players have nothing to say and can accept it calmly.

Another possibility is that the referee did make a misjudgment, and the players relied on "Eagle Eye Replay" to save themselves a point. That mentality is very different, and it better reflects the principle of fair play in competitive sports.

"I declare this to be the most monumental moment in competitive sports."

"From now on, tennis will be the fairest sport."

Not only the players, but also some sports media were extremely excited.

This is definitely a landmark moment, not just for tennis, but for sports in general.

Before the men's singles final, Chen Ran was also asked about this big event by reporters when attending a press conference.

"Haha, this is definitely a good thing."

"Especially for us Chinese athletes, it will be beneficial without any harm!"

Why did you say that?

Just when the reporters were confused, Chen Ran's voice came slowly.

"Because we Chinese athletes often suffer losses in international competitions, some people deliberately target us."

Boom~
Chen Ran, can this really be said?

Especially the leaders of the sports bureau who are always "surprised" by "friends", will they be frightened by your words?

Many Chinese reporters looked at each other.

Because the Olympic Games is a multi-sport event, the reporters who came to interview also included people from other sports.

Among them, football reporters and basketball reporters feel the same way.

China's football and basketball skills are already poor. If they encounter a black whistle again, will they still be able to play?
But none of them dared to speak out, fearing that fines and suspensions would hit their heads.

Chen Ran didn't care about everyone's expressions. He seemed to have a thousand words to talk about.

“Countless times in the dead of night I thought about last year’s end of the year in Houston.”

"In the end it was proved that my ball did not go out of bounds."

"Had Hawkeye been there at that time, the outcome might have been different."

This guy really holds a grudge. More than half a year has passed and he still misses him. You've already won four Grand Slams, do you still care so much about the end of the year?

"As you know, the year-end prize money is much higher than that of the Grand Slams! I didn't make it to the finals and didn't win the championship. My loss was very big."

Chen Ran emphasized again.

It’s not surprising that athletes from capitalist countries talk about money every day, but among Chinese athletes, you seem to be the only one who talks about bonuses and money every day.

"The core of sports competition is fairness."

"I am a football fan and I also like to watch football, but I hate that a certain person often says that 'misjudgments are part of football'. This is unfair to the fans and players."

"Chen Ran, you said it well!"

Some European reporters on the scene actually gave out warm applause, cheering for Chen Ran's speech.

Because anyone who pays attention to football will know who Chen Ran is mocking.

The object of his satire was Blatter, the current FIFA president. The latter will tirelessly repeat that sentence when serious misjudgments occur in every important game: Misjudgments are also part of football.

Why football?

According to his logic, misjudgment can also be part of tennis or basketball.

Chen Ran was openly mocking him.

"The ATP and WTA are doing a great job. They are doing their best to pursue fairness in sports competitions and make tennis the fairest sport."

"Since technology is so advanced now, we should introduce advanced equipment to ensure the fairness of the game, instead of being so conservative and stubborn and refusing to progress."

"By the way, this is just my personal thought and does not mean anything."

The Chinese and foreign reporters in the audience all smiled knowingly.

Isn't this the three hundred and two yards without silver here?

Everyone hated the greedy old man, especially these Europeans.

However, this guy is so powerful that not many people in the football circle dare to offend him.

Fortunately, Chen Ran is from the tennis circle, so he took advantage of the launch of the "Eagle Eye System" and made fun of it.

This wave also allowed the outside world to see Chen Ran's humor and good conversation.

The focus of this press conference has always been on the topic of the "Eagle Eye System". After all, this is a major change in sports history.

It is unprecedented for referees to be replaced by high technology to determine the outcome of the game.

At least in tennis, the factor of human interference is reduced to a minimum.

However, the ATP and WTA also leave some room. For example, they will not introduce the "Eagle Eye System" on clay courts because tennis balls will leave traces when they land and rebound on clay courts, so the chance of misjudgment is very low.

"Chen Ran, the ATP and WTA originally planned to launch the Hawk Eye system at the end of 2005. It was the repeated appeals of the players headed by you that allowed it to be launched a year ahead of schedule."

"You will definitely go down in the history of athletes."

Indeed, Chen Ran has been pushing for the early launch of the "Eagle Eye System" this time, and he is even the leader among the players who called for it.

Because he wants a fair playing field more than any other player.

Of course, Chen Ran himself knows very well that this is determined by the particularity of tennis, and there is an opportunity for him to realize his hope of "fairness comes first".

In this great sports history process, Chen Ran is the leader.

Before the singles final began, this was very beneficial news for Chen Ran.

……

(End of this chapter)