Then one upset after another followed.
First, Liang Kunpeng took down Qi Hao.
That counted as a minor upset.
After the first round, Qi Hao stood seventh with six wins and five losses, while Liang Kunpeng was ninth at four wins and seven losses. But as everyone gradually came to understand Qi Hao, his ferocious style became less and less effective.
It was not that his attacking methods had been cracked. Rather, the flaws that had originally been hidden began to reveal themselves clearly. Once someone targeted them, Qi Hao would not be the first to strike—his opponent would beat him flat first.
This showed that he still fell short of Xiao Fei back then. The reason Xiao Fei's three moves had been invincible was actually that his overall fundamentals were exceptionally strong, making it difficult for opponents to catch his flaws and launch an attack first. That was why they allowed Xiao Fei to unleash those three moves—and once he did, they could not stop them. Naturally, Xiao Fei won.
Against Liang Kunpeng, Qi Hao had not even had time to show his power before Liang Kunpeng latched onto him and battered him to death in one savage burst.
Then came another minor upset: Ma Angxing defeated Lu Feiyang.
Ma Angxing was the biggest surprise of this direct qualification tournament. Making the main draw had already been a miracle for him, and after getting in, though his overall record was poor, he had beaten Liang Kunpeng and Zou Zhengyu in the first round, then defeated Lu Feiyang as soon as the second round began. It could be said that apart from the main force of Chinese table tennis, whom he genuinely could not beat, he actually had a chance of defeating everyone else.
Before this direct qualification tournament, Cai