That morning, Chinese table tennis bloodlessly swept two weak teams, Nigeria and Austria, advancing easily into the quarterfinals. The matches had been so one-sided that Qin Huachang, broadcasting from thousands of miles away, found himself bored and voluntarily ended the stream to get some sleep.
His son, Qin Zhenyu, was relieved. The time difference between China and Houston was simply too great. He had truly been afraid his father would broadcast the afternoon matches in Houston time as well. Converted to Imperial Capital time, that would have been three or four in the morning, and given Qin Huachang's health, it really might have killed the old man.
The facts proved that upsets in team events were indeed far less likely than in individual events. By the end of the day, all the men's team group-stage matches had concluded, and the eight quarterfinalists had emerged clearly: China, Germany, the Beautiful Country, Sakura Country, Austria, Kimchi Country, Sweden, and Brazil.
What was remarkable was that the widely acknowledged strong teams of England and Taiwan Province had actually been eliminated, simply because they had been placed in bad groups.
Equally remarkable was that the widely acknowledged weak teams of Austria and the Beautiful Country had advanced because they had been placed in excellent groups. Austria had defeated Nigeria, while the Beautiful Country had defeated Australia.
The eight remaining teams were then drawn together, with no seedings involved anymore. Everyone had to trust their fate.
The matchups quickly emerged, leaving some delighted and others distraught.
Top half: China vs. Sakura Country, the Beautiful Country vs. Brazil.
Bottom half: Germany vs. Austria, Kimchi Country vs. Sweden.
The director immediately turned the cameras toward the Sakura Country team, who would soon face Chinese table tennis, and found every one of them looking as though their parents