Zou Zhengyu did not serve the most versatile conventional short backspin, but directly served a backhand baseline long ball.
This is a billiard ball, even a little too much, which means that he is not afraid of Wang Chao directly moving laterally, and then charging sideways.
An hour ago, Portugal player Antonio also served such a ball after being stunned by Wang Chao. Wang Chao responded without hesitation.
But this time Wang Chao didn't rush. He rolled the ball back steadily and turned it into a long forehand baseline ball.
He and Zou Zhengyu are both left-handed, and both hold the racket horizontally with their left hands. When the two left-handers met, Wang Chao felt a little uncomfortable.
This is normal, because almost all the opponents he has encountered in the past six months have a forehand grip, and the only player on the same team, Lu Jia, has a left-hand grip.
But Lu Jia is too weak. Even if he holds the racket with his feet, it will have no effect on Wang Chao.
So Zou Zhengyu is the first national-level left-hander Wang Chao has encountered in his life.
This is a small advantage of Zou Zhengyu.
The long forehand baseline ball that Wang Chao passed to Zou Zhengyu was also introduced, and it was also a very good opportunity for a sideways charge.
But Zou Zhengyu didn't rush, he pulled a high hanging circle.
The audience was very quiet. The younger Li Zhengzhi and Lin Zijun did not understand what the game between the two people was, but people like Bayer and Zhu Shixian who had played against Zou Zhengyu had already understood Wang Chao's intention.
Wang Chao's intention is actually very simple: not to give Zou Zhengyu a chance to hit the ball backhand.
Each of the three main players in Huaping has its own strengths and weaknesses.
It is these strengths that give them their current status.
It is precisely these weaknesses that prevent them from making further progress.
Fang Xiaobo has the world's best forehand lethality, but his backhand is extremely weak. Although he holds the racket horizontally, he plays almost all forehands, and his playing style is similar to that of Japanese penhold single-ply blade.
Yan Ping'an possesses the world's best right-handed and fast-paced attack, with comprehensive skills and almost no flaws. However, he lacks strength and cannot kill anyone every time he gets the chance.
Zou Zhengyu has the best backhand ability in the world, and his backhand has completely different characteristics from other players who are proficient in backhand.
Fan Xiaodong's backhand emphasizes power and rotation, Jiang Peirong's backhand emphasizes strong push and block, Lin Zijun's backhand emphasizes speed and extreme difficulty, but Zou Zhengyu's strongest one is the continuous recoil loop of the COTS.
To this day, he is the only player among the Chinese table tennis players who can compete with European players' forehand loops simply by relying on the long-distance reverse loop.
This is exactly the opposite of the tactical concept of "fierce forehand and stable backhand" used by Chinese table tennis players over the years.
So many years ago, Zou Zhengyu was actually the most favored by the coaches. His playing style was so unique and his backhand was so otherworldly that he almost dominated the 29-year-old quartet.
He did not perform well in the world's three major competitions, but he has won some other extremely valuable awards.
For example, table tennis National Championship Men's Singles and Men's Doubles double champions.
For example, National Games men's team and Men's Doubles are double champions.
For example, Asian Games men's team champion.
For example, Asian Cup mixed doubles champion.
He even defended National Games Men's Doubles.
The most important thing is that he won the Super League championship and the annual mvp title.
All Chinese domestic champions and Asian regional champions are actually slightly higher than the three major competitions in terms of difficulty, because there are too many masters in China.
National Games championship and Table Tennis Super League mvp are almost honors that foreign professional players all over the world dream of winning but can never obtain.
But Zou Zhengyu got them all.
He even showed strong Men's Doubles and mixed doubles abilities outside of singles, giving the impression that he was omnipotent - that was before his weaknesses were completely exposed.
Later, he fell from the most glorious place because of a problem with his forehand.
There is no problem with the power and posture of his forehand, and his success rate is high, but he has no confidence in his forehand.
His backhand was so brilliant that he habitually relied on it. Even if the opponent hit the ball to the center of the table, he would always catch it with his backhand. He rarely turned sideways and made a forehand blast.
After entering the new era, he exposed another fatal weakness: he likes to step down.
Don't forget, the strongest point of his backhand lies in the stalemate after retreating from the table, rather than the confrontation against the table.
His style of play requires space to stretch his arms and exert strength.
So at this moment, Wang Chao, facing such a player with an unprecedentedly powerful backhand, would rather sacrifice his kingly style of double-sided looping ball to attack the entire Taiwan, but also have to stop Zou Zhengyu's backhand first.
This is not a compromise, but a adaptability 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 Zou Zhengyu's forehand baseline. As expected, Zou Zhengyu refused to rush forward with his forehand. He would rather pull up the loop.
But when the high hanging arc falls to Wang Chao, it is an excellent offensive opportunity.
Wang Chao moved directly laterally, and made a heavy arc with a forehand, still staring at Zou Zhengyu's forehand.
Zou Zhengyu was unwilling to fight forehand, preferring to move his body and pull the ball with his backhand.
But because the ball started from a high arc, which was very long and always hit the chest, the ball was high, and Wang Chao shot it directly without hesitation.
He even omits the pulling action, because he needs to make the range of movement smaller, the arm swing speed faster, and the ball speed faster, so he would rather give up spin for this.
Facing such a fast forehand, Zou Zhengyu could only retreat.
He is accustomed to the retreating style of play. He likes to hit the drop shot and does not like to hit the head shot.
So unknowingly, the situation became Wang Chao approaching the stage and fighting Zou Zhengyu in the middle stage.
Zou Zhengyu is still looking for an opportunity to backhand the ball. Since Wang Chao always hits the ball to his right hand, he moves directly to the right hand direction, trying to force the ball back.
But this way there was a gap, and Wang Chao did not hesitate to hit the ball to his left hand at a wide angle.
This ball was a direct hit, because the gap exposed by Zou Zhengyu was too big, and it could be regarded as an obvious mistake.
1:0, Wang Chao leads.
Zou Zhengyu serves again, still staring at Wang Chao's backhand baseline.
He still wanted to find an opportunity for him 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 the backhand baseline of Zou Zhengyu.
The ball was actually played very well and was not considered a good opportunity, but Zou Zhengyu's backhand was full of desire, and he did not hesitate to hit it again with a backhand.
Extremely fast and powerful, with strong side spin, he showed his extremely high level of backhand position.
But in fact, this is not his real backhand power, because the ball Wang Chao is not long enough, so Zou Zhengyu is not completely stretched.
If he were to really hit a backhand with continuous backlash and heavy arcs, Wang Chao would probably have a hard time dealing with it, but at this level, Wang Chao, whose strength has greatly increased this year, is still within control. He just simply reversed the ball in a small amount and pulled the ball back to the bottom line of Zou Zhengyu's forehand position.
Zou Zhengyu finally attacked the board but refused to give up. He quickly moved his body laterally and forced his backhand to rip it off again.
Without thinking, Wang Chao pulled the ball back to Zou Zhengyu's backhand position at a wide angle, and hit Zou Zhengyu with a fatal gap, successfully scoring.
2:0.
By this time, Yan Ping'an and Fang Xiaobo in the stands had quietly loosened their fists, just as the expectations in their hearts were gradually passing away.
They felt a deep sadness.
Wang Chao's playing style 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 his line to attack the backhand gap, killing him with one blow. This style of play does not even require a decent attack. He just moves left and right, and Zou Zhengyu is killed.
But Zou Zhengyu still insists on playing like this because he is obsessed with his backhand.
Since you have obsessions, you will always be targeted and there is no solution.
In fact, all three of them have obsessions.
Fang Xiaobo had the opportunity to strengthen his backhand back then.
Zou Zhengyu also has the opportunity to strengthen his forehand.
Yan Ping'an has plenty of opportunities to develop his strength.
But in their most glorious youth years, they trusted their own strengths too much. No matter how much the coach warned, criticized, or persuaded, they still made the mistake of young people being arrogant and looking too high.
Back then, they could all rely on their own talents and specialties to lift Sun Tianlong up and beat him.
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 lacking. But the three of them held on to their strengths and refused to let go.
At that time, they did not know that playing table tennis to the extreme was actually based on the barrel theory, and even a shortcoming would not work.
So in the end, their weaknesses were constantly studied and amplified, becoming fatal wounds, but Sun Tianlong no longer had any weaknesses.
Regret?
Of course there is.
But the complex emotions in my heart are not only regret, but also some helpless emotion about the changes in the current situation and technological updates.
Zou Zhengyu's backhand is still the strongest in the mid-range and long-range stalemate. However, the new generation of players have begun to refuse to retreat. So what is the meaning of his powerful backhand?
It's just a dragon-slaying skill that is not used in the competition.
On the contrary, it is his habit of retreating due to his backhand characteristics that has become his most fatal flaw in this new era.
He has been retiring for more than ten years and has become accustomed to it. If you ask him not to retreat, he can't do it.
So he was destined to be eliminated in this new era. After the big wave, the old people died on the beach one after another.
Even a powerful presence like Sun Tianlong has obviously begun to try not to retreat in the competition 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 serving.
Wang Chao still uses a very simple and crude style of play. He did not pick up the ever-changing tricks from last year. He just played Zou Zhengyu's forehand.
If you have any flaws, I will focus on them 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 taken three steps back.
At such a distance, he finally successfully completed a backhand loop.
However, it is meaningless. Wang Chao, who will not retreat from the stage, has ten thousand ways to resolve this situation with his delicate enough touch.
He just made a fool of himself, and Zou Zhengyu died.
The fourth ball still turned into a near table and a far table. Wang Chao turned a wide angle this time, and Zou Zhengyu died again.
This game is actually very nice to watch, because Zou Zhengyu habitually seeks opportunities to pull the ball hard, which makes the scene very intense. When the players release their full strength on both sides of the table, the ball will have an extremely graceful trajectory in the air, triggering bursts of applause from the audience.
But as professional players, the audience in the first two rows remained silent.
Even the foul-mouthed Mizutori Hato is no longer in the mood to say weird things.
He is also in the 29-year-old group, and he has also practiced the retreat style. He also felt a certain melancholy of the changing times from this game.
The former genius was wasted by time and eventually died with broken wings because what he practiced was no longer appropriate in today's era.
Uncle Bai, who always maintained a kind smile, secretly glanced sideways at Lin Zijun, who was sitting not far away, and there was a hint of fear in his eyes.
Even this King of Europe saw the advanced nature of the non-retirement style from this game, and therefore became more wary of Lin Zijun, who had practiced this style of play since childhood.
Bayer wants to qualify, to give German Table Tennis Association a good start in the first match of the year, and to secretly win the championship while his nemesis Sun Tianlong is away, so he must defeat Lin Zijun in the same group.
However, when I fight Lin Zijun the day after tomorrow, facing such a fast-paced style of play, can I really react without retreating?
After all, I am thirty-four years old...
Bayer is vaguely aware that the structure of the world table tennis world may be changing again, because not quitting the stage requires too quick a response, 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. Wang Chao easily won with a big score.
Zou Zhengyu did not show any frustration. He just came to the sidelines calmly, drank water, wiped his sweat, and sat silently on the chair, not knowing what he was thinking.
No one disturbed him.
Because this was a civil war, both He Jingping and his coach maintained a tacit silence.
Before the second game was about to start, Yan Ping'an suddenly shouted to the court, "Zhengyu."
Zou Zhengyu looked up.
"If you can't beat me, just give up." Yan Ping'an was laughing. He stood up and gestured with his hands, trying to keep his tone as relaxed as possible. "It's not shameful to lose to Wang Chao. Let's fight again at the next stop."
Zou Zhengyu smiled, shook his head, walked slowly to the court, lowered his body again, and waited for Wang Chao's serving round.
Yan Ping'an 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 he loses miserably, he hopes to finish it.
He hopes 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 that has been firmly engraved in their hearts since they entered Huaping for eleven years.
Then let's start well and end well.
Twenty-five minutes later, Zou Zhengyu was defeated 4:0 by Wang Chao. The scores in the four rounds were 11:2, 11:3, 11:5, and 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 persisted until the end without collapsing.
His playing style was wrong, but he did get better and better and scored more points in every game.
After the fight, he shook hands with Wang Chao, and then took the initiative to hug him. Then, he collapsed on Wang Chao's shoulders, as if his bones had been removed.
Even the non-Chinese associations players felt an invisible and intangible solemn atmosphere. Bayer, who has always had a good relationship with Huaping, couldn't help but pat Xiao Fei in the front row on the shoulder. "Xiao, is he going to retire?"
Xiao Fei shook his head and said nothing.
Xiao Fei had not heard any rumors that Zou Zhengyu was retiring, but he did feel at this moment that the scene he saw in front of him was like the last swan song of a has-been genius.