Two days passed, and all competition events of Brazil Open were progressing smoothly.
It can be said that the Men's Singles project does not have any surprises, because basically all the experts are seed players, so the competition within the group is basically a game of abuse.
The final result was completely guessed by the fans. The eight seeded players became the final eight. The next game will be very exciting because the strong players finally started to meet.
In the first half, Wang Chao vs Zhang Benkuang, Xiao Fei vs Morad.
In the second half, Fan Xiaodong vs Pike, Bai Feng vs Lin Li.
I have to say that Wang Chao's fortune this time is really good. Even if it enters a strong confrontation, his game against Zhang Benkuang is probably the least suspenseful one among the top eight.
As for Xiao Fei playing Morad, Xiao Fei is obviously ranked third in the world, and Morad is not even in the top 20, but there are actually many people in the world table tennis world who are optimistic about Morad. On the one hand, it's because Morad did achieve amazing results before he was suspended. On the other hand, it's also because Old Wa, who is far away in Sweden, once again made a public statement last night, shouting to Morad, "Come on, try to get a medal back home."
A few months ago, Old Wa shouted the same thing, and that time Morad really won a bronze medal.
When he shouted again this time, he obviously felt that Morad had already encountered the opportunity to win the card again.
A character like Old Wa never speaks casually. He retired twenty years ago and rarely spoke out publicly afterwards. However, whether he appointed Morad as his disciple or helped Michel with his technical transformation, he was proven to be an independent With a keen eye, the only time he made a mistake in his life was when he coached Michel off the court in an attempt to defeat Wang Chao. But in fact, Old Wa knew he would lose that game, and he just took the blame.
But what Old Wa didn't expect was that he wanted to take the blame, but in the end he didn't because his old friend, Swedish head coach Persson, was unwilling to let him take the blame. Persson believed that even if Michel disappointed Swedish fans, it would not mean the end of Swedish table tennis. On the contrary, it would be the end of Swedish table tennis when Old Wa's halo disappeared.
So Persson accepted a public interview after that, detailing the whole story of everything in the Open, and clearly pointed out that it was impossible for Michel to beat Wang Chao at that time, and Old Wa just wanted to help the younger generation block some sewage.
After this clarification, Old Wa's reputation has not been damaged, but has become even louder. It has almost become a symbol of Sweden and a totem of table tennis in Europe, directly breaking through the boundaries of nationality.
Because of this, as soon as he made a speech, Morad's support rate in Europe suddenly skyrocketed. Under the premise that there were almost no masters participating in the whole Europe, Morad can be said to have gathered thousands of attention. Everyone was looking forward to him defeating Xiao Fei and reaching the semi-finals.
"Xiao Fei is old. His performance has been mediocre these years. Even World Cup has not played much. He is no longer good."
"He doesn't even bother to fight for Olympic Games Men's Singles. According to internal information, the only competitors in Wang Chao's eyes are Bai Feng and Lin Li. There has never been Xiao Fei with a higher world ranking."
"I wasn't sure about Xiao Fei's strength at first. After all, he was once ranked No. 2 in the world and was only recently surpassed by Hook... However, since even Old Wa thinks that Morad has a chance, it seems that Xiao Fei is really out of date."
"Huaping has all the main players this time. It's clear that they want to take it all. If non-Chinese associations makes it to the semi-finals, it will be a slap in the face."
"So, is this an air-to-air battle between Old Wa and the head coach of China Table Tennis Team? Let's see whether Old Cai has all the tricks, or Old Wa is superior."
"Haha, let's wait and see. I'm curious, what punishment will Xiao Fei receive after losing?"
The European fans are enthusiastic and full of expectations. It was originally an ordinary open tournament, but because of Old Wa's shout-out, it created a kind of national carnival atmosphere.
As for Morad reaching the finals and even winning the crown, not many people expect it, because according to the grouping, if Morad beats Xiao Fei, they will have to play Wang Chao in the semi-finals. At this time, Wang Chao, in the minds of European fans, is already at the level of Great Demon King. The future has come, and it is not comparable to the Morad that can be expected in the future. We are not in the same order of magnitude.
Don't you see that even Old Wa didn't dare to let Morad reach the finals? It can be seen that Old Wa also has some ideas in mind.
I have to mention it here. In fact, after Old Wa shouted yesterday, England head coach Johnson also shouted, asking Pike to try to get a medal back.
This was shouted exactly the same as Old Wa, but no one paid attention to Johnson's speech, and everyone just pretended not to hear it.
It's really because he, the head coach, really doesn't have any halo bonus, and he didn't have any good results when he was a player. Even the rise of Pike, strictly speaking, has little to do with him. He only provided environmental and material help, and did not provide any constructive suggestions in the technical and tactical fields.
So why should he take advantage of Old Wa's popularity?
To put it another way, why does he think Pike can beat Fan Xiaodong? Do you really think Fan Xiaodong is a soft persimmon? They killed Hook before.
After talking about Men's Singles, let's talk about mixed doubles. After two days passed, Huaping didn't worry anymore because both pairs of players were eliminated.
Wang Chao and Lilith had a serious fight with Xian Youwen Che Songxin from Daehan Minguk, but they did Not winning, because Lilith not only couldn't withstand Che Songxin's varied serves, but also didn't have enough kills to kill Che Songxin. In the confrontation between the two female players, she was completely defeated.
The chain reaction of her complete defeat was by no means a fair duel between Wang Chao and Xian Youwen, but Xian Youwen directly gained a large number of offensive opportunities. Although a racket like Japanese penhold single-ply blade Although the ball in the table is a mess, once he finds an opportunity to charge in the middle, he is really unstoppable, like a mad dog. Even though Wang Chao's defense is now several levels higher than when he debuted, he can still only block less than half of the attacks.
The problem is that even if he blocked the ball, Lilith could not block the next block that Che Songxin made up for.
Therefore, mixed doubles is such a subtle confrontation. It is difficult to say whether male players or female players are more important. What is really important should actually be "no obvious shortcomings." The reason why everyone must first determine whether it is upward or downward compatibility when discussing mixed doubles is because no matter what, you must first be compatible, and the essence of compatibility is actually to try to make the two boards the same length.
Of course, when it comes to the Daehan Minguk pair, the focus is quite obvious. Che Songxin must be more important.
So when Che Songxin played with ease, the result was already determined.
Wang Chao worked very hard in this game, so he scored points in every game, but that was it. He was still far away from winning. The final score was 4:0, and he was given a zero shutout. After the game, Xian Youwen and Che Songxin clapped and celebrated. It was not enough, so they cheered and hugged each other.
This is because they know in their hearts that when Wang Chao returns to Tang Dynasty Combination, they still have no chance, so today is probably their only chance to defeat Wang Chao. This game can be bragging for many years in the future. The higher Wang Chao's achievements in mixed doubles, the harder this bragging will be.
The experience of the pair Tang Yuanyuan and Kazik is much more exciting than that of Wang Chao.
On the first day, Tang Yuanyuan planned to show off her acting skills at the level of a movie queen and lost the game directly. However, the problem was that the opposite Luxembourg combination basically didn't know how to fight. They took advantage of Not many Brazil Open masters came to practice, but when it came to real fighting, Tang Yuanyuan found that he and Kazik could often score points inexplicably. After fighting, they won the first game.
In the second game, Tang Yuanyuan improved her acting skills. She lost two goals in a row at the beginning, committing suicide by serving and committing suicide by attacking. Then the coach Ge Miao, who was responsible for on-the-spot guidance, called a timeout without hesitation, and in the next minute, Tang Yuanyuan was scolded in the face. Her words were sharp and her tone was so stern that He Jingping, who was sitting behind her and watching the fun, grinned.
Tang Yuanyuan was stunned by the reprimand, but finally woke up and realized what he had just done.
This is an international competition. Although the competition is not very popular, it is still broadcast simultaneously around the world. Under such circumstances, she dares to fake the match. She is really seeking death...
Tang Yuanyuan, who returned to the game, began to play in a regular manner. It was impossible to be full of fighting spirit, and it was impossible to win with all his strength. However, the ball that should be attacked could be attacked, and the ball that should be saved could be saved. At least he had to show his attitude.
Then she and Kazik blocked the Luxembourg combination, and because there were only 15 pairs of players in this mixed doubles competition, she entered the quarterfinals.
The next day she and Kazik played again, but they played the No. 1 seed combination from Sakura Country, Ichikawa Mima and Niuwa Xiaoxi.
Ichikawa Mima was so happy because she was really bullied the last time they fought.
The smile on Ichikawa Mima's face could not be concealed throughout the game. She was full of energy and fighting spirit, and her round serve vaguely showed the charm of Tai Chi. Although Niuwa Xiaoxi still looked indifferent, at least his performance was normal, so in the end they beat Tang Yuanyuan and Kazik for four rounds and successfully reached the semi-finals of mixed doubles.
Regarding Huaping's mixed doubles defeat, the world table tennis community was very calm, because everyone could see that it was just a ploy. As for Huaping itself, it didn't matter. They didn't even bother to hold a review meeting, let alone criticize Wang Chao and Tang Yuanyuan for losing.
So the focus is still Men's Singles.
On the third day of the Open main event, the quarterfinals of Men's Singles officially kicked off. All four games were played in one morning. In the end, the eight seed players played three wonderful games in a total of six hours. Only the game between Wang Chao and Zhang Benkuang was not worth watching.
This is naturally not because Wang Chao and Zhang Benkuang played poorly, but because Zhang Benkuang was completely crushed by Wang Chao in this game. There was no chance at all in the game. The final 4:0 zero shutout reminded many fans of Wang Chao's feat of fighting on two fronts and keeping zero shutouts all the way last month.
"Platinum leg has kept zero seals to the end. Could it be that he will do it again this time?" Such remarks appeared on the European forum at noon that day, and were liked wildly.
The other three games are exciting because they are either extremely tragic or full of surprises.
What is full of surprises is the match between Fan Xiaodong and Pike.
Pike was very successful when he completed the super evolution last year. He was able to forcefully win two games under Sun Tianlong. Later, although his performance declined because everyone was on guard, he was still considered a European player. He was the top player in the continent, and then he chose to retreat because Hong Kong Open was defeated by Wang Chao. Now that he has returned from retreat, although his performance in World Cup is mediocre, he is still favored by many people.
Although England head coach's public speech yesterday did not cause any sensation, it at least proved that he is very optimistic about Pike and feels that Pike can beat Fan Xiaodong.
Therefore, the world table tennis community has different opinions on this game. Some people think that this side is stronger, some think that side is stronger, but no matter what, everyone feels that this is a tough battle, not to mention the decisive game, at least until the sixth game.
As a result, Fan Xiaodong 4:0 destroyed Pike. If I had to describe the content of this game, it would be "Fan Xiaodong chopped Pike into minced meat. It was lean and there was no fat on it."
After this game, the world table tennis community was habitually shocked again, because when they felt that the growth of Pike was obvious to all, in fact, the young players in Chinese Table Tennis base were growing up at a faster speed. If this process is compared to raising pigs, then there is definitely a huge gap in the quality and effectiveness of the pig feed used by both parties.
The subsequent matchup between Xiao Fei and Morad was actually within everyone's expectations: it was indeed very intense and close, and it reached the sixth game, with Xiao Fei winning 4:2 in the end.
The European fans were very disappointed because of this. They felt that Morad performed poorly and played only averagely, failing to live up to the expectations of Old Wa. However, they forgot that Xiao Fei was originally ranked third in the world. This game did not beat Morad 4:0, which was actually a failure.
Therefore, Cai Guodong from Huaping was actually dissatisfied, and even Zhu Zeshi was slightly criticized, because Huaping had its own set of internal evaluation standards. According to this set of standards, the coaching staff originally felt that Xiao Fei should have zero opponents within forty minutes to be reasonable.
"What kind of fight is this? No fighting spirit, lax rhythm, all kinds of low-level mistakes, and slow response on the spot. I don't have a problem with Xiao Fei being a Buddhist at ordinary times. Olympic Games doesn't expect him anyway, but don't you feel embarrassed to beat a Swedish youngster like this?"
These are the exact words Cai Guodong said on the spot when he held an impromptu meeting in his room that night. The target was Xiao Fei's teacher Zhu Zeshi: "Old Zhu, I know Xiao Fei will retire next year, but please stand for the last duty."
These words have not spread, because now is the stage of the game. Even if you want to summarize, review, or criticize, you have to wait until the game is completely over. And during the game, the only thing the coaches need to do to the players is to encourage them.
Regarding Cai Guodong's words, Zhu Zeshi did not defend himself, but he did not admit his mistake on the spot. He just lowered his head and said nothing. Only He Jingping, who was sitting next to him and was slightly half a head shorter than him, noticed a detail: the senior brother's lowered face did not show shame or annoyance, but rather a faint smile with some evil taste.
He always felt that his senior brother was probably going to cause trouble, but he couldn't figure out what kind of trouble a person as old-fashioned and upright as his senior brother could do.
The last game of the morning, Bai Feng playing Lin Li, was the most evenly matched and fiercely stalemate game in this Open so far.
The two sides played for a full hour and fifty minutes, during which both sides used the timeout indicator and deliberately delayed time to think about tactics. Both sides had a tailwind situation of scoring consecutive points and a headwind situation of losing consecutive points. But overall, the two sides were almost completely even in strength. Until the final game, Lin Li only won with a slight advantage of 13:11. Even the last ball of the decisive game was a lucky miss.
Otherwise, it's hard to say who will win in the final game.
In the past year, due to the rise of Wang Chao and the subsequent rise of Fan Xiaodong, the world table tennis world actually looked down on Lin Li and Bai Feng, and because they did have some abnormal performances in the game, the ball Fans generally believe that the five main players of Huaping have ceased to exist in name only, forming a fault line of two real players and three fake main players. As for this head-to-head confrontation between Lin Li and Bai Feng, everyone also generally believes that it may be a stalemate, but it should not be too good-looking.
Because fans feel that the new generation of geniuses, Lin Zijun, Pike, Hook, Wang Chao, Zhang Benkuang, etc. will look better when playing and are more in line with the mainstream style of table tennis competitions in this era.
But today's match between Lin Li and Bai Feng really allowed non-Chinese associations fans to see clearly the thickness of Huaping's main players.
A 27-year-old player and a 25-year-old player have changed their past habit of quitting the stage and rushing forward in terms of playing style. They have adopted the most popular route of staying on the stage and never retreating. Under such circumstances that are not in line with their past playing styles, their performance is actually better than that of the new generation of super geniuses.
Lin Li's high-quality continuous single board in the small space in the table was simply thrilling, and Bai Feng's hard fight with Penhold Backhand Loop made the audience's scalp numb. Many balls they thought were impossible to catch were caught by the two Chinese table tennis veterans calmly, and they were able to pull high-quality return shots and various forced line changes.
This was a super high-quality match from beginning to end. Although it lasted for nearly two hours, there was no peeing spot during the whole process. The audience couldn't even take time to go to the toilet. So when the match was over, a bunch of people in the audience left their seats at the same time, which was a spectacle.
But it was also this game that made people understand how determined Lin Li and Bai Feng are now.
They still have to compete for the Men's Singles spot in the Olympics.
To this end, they are willing to do whatever it takes to crush any enemy that stands in their way.
The high quality of this game represents their high level during this period. Although they are fighting each other, the person they really want to defeat is Wang Chao.
So this fierce battle is actually just an appetizer. What they are fighting for is the qualification to challenge Wang Chao.
"Wang Chao, I'm waiting for you in the finals." During the post-match interview, Lin Li, who had always only spoken clichés about the Chinese table tennis process, went against the norm and openly invited the competition, showing his murderous intent.
This afternoon was the women's team competition and the next stage of the mixed doubles competition. This was to allow the Men's Singles players some time to rest and study tactics for the next round.
The next morning, the Men's Singles semi-finals officially started. The first game was Wang Chao vs Xiao Fei in the top half.
(There will be two updates today, but I can't finish writing at 8 o'clock. Please wait for me for a while, thank you)