Evil Path

"Director Wang, let Zhao Ge give it a try," Zhao Fuqiang interjected, seizing the opportunity. "After all, Wang Chao has beaten Tian Zhengguang. We should pick strong opponents."

Li Zhenguo cursed the old fox's omnipresence in his mind but refused to be outdone. "I think Li Mu is a better choice. After all, Li Mu's last assessment score was better than Zhao Ge's."

"Zhao Ge plays with more passion!"

"Li Mu plays more steadily!"

"I guarantee Zhao Ge will win if he goes up."

"Tch, as if Li Mu would lose if he played."

Wang Bin was somewhat speechless. He shot the two men a warning glare and made his decision. "Zhao Ge will go first. If he loses, then Li Mu, who is ranked higher, will play."

Zhao Fuqiang's face lit up with joy, while Li Zhenguo cast a resentful glance at the head coach and said nothing.

In his opinion, Wang Chao was already exhausted, and even Long Tao could win. How could there be a situation where he couldn't win?

Therefore, the head coach was clearly showing favoritism!

Zhao Ge quickly entered the arena. He was a young man with a buzz cut, bright eyes, and a spirited demeanor. He stood at the front of the court, bouncing occasionally as if his boundless energy had nowhere to go.

Wang Chao slowly got up and walked to the edge of the court, holding his racket, and calmly assumed his stance. "How do you want to play?"

"Best of three games. Otherwise, I'm afraid your stamina won't keep up."

Zhao Ge said this while tossing the ball to Wang Chao. "I won't take advantage of you. You go first."

Wang Chao didn't stand on ceremony and served, engaging Zhao Ge in a match.

In the first five balls, Wang Chao lost four. Two were killed by Zhao Ge's early attacks, one was killed by Zhao Ge's wide-angle shots forcing Wang Chao to move side to side, and the last was a lucky edge ball by Zhao Ge.

The only point Wang Chao won was by using a long serve to catch Zhao Ge off guard.

After five balls, Zhao Ge led 4:1.

Everyone thought the match was decided, as they could see that Wang Chao was genuinely unable to run.

Precisely because he couldn't run, Wang Chao had no way to quickly move his feet to save the ball when Zhao Ge launched a strong attack.

And when Zhao Ge successfully forced him to move with wide-angle shots, Wang Chao also couldn't keep up.

It looked as if Wang Chao was simply standing still at the table.

But what future could there be in playing while standing still?

However, the situation then became bizarre.

Wang Chao served. It looked like an ordinary serve, but Zhao Ge fell for the backspin, making the score 4:2.

When it was Zhao Ge's serve, he served a high-toss ball with extreme spin. Wang Chao simply held his racket flat and flicked the ball to Zhao Ge's middle area with one shot. Zhao Ge didn't expect it at all. In his haste, he took half a step back, his movement wasn't complete, and his attempt to attack failed. The score became 4:3.

Zhao Ge continued to serve, this time a fast forehand long ball. Wang Chao didn't have the strength to retreat, so he could only twist his wrist and block the ball with his racket. Although the ball went over, it popped up slightly. Zhao Ge immediately swung his racket to smash the ball.

Zhao Ge had scored two points earlier in the same simple manner.

But this time, Wang Chao moved his feet slightly, a very small adjustment, but it was just enough to get him in position. He blocked the ball back.

Zhao Ge smashed again.

Wang Chao adjusted his feet again, but it was again just enough. He mainly used his wrist movements, adjusted the angle of his racket, and blocked the ball back.

Zhao Ge's playing style was already very passionate. When faced with this situation, he naturally hit harder with each shot. The ball made a "bang bang" sound when it hit the racket. In a blink of an eye, he had smashed the ball seven times, but Wang Chao blocked them all.

Wang Bin let out a soft "Oh" at this moment.

He could tell that Wang Chao had completely given up on attacking.

Due to exhaustion, Wang Chao was now purely defending.

Generally, even when defending, players would try to apply some subtle wrist movements to impart spin on the returned ball, hoping to force an error from the opponent. But Wang Chao wasn't even applying spin now. He was purely ensuring his racket was in the correct position at the correct time, adjusting the correct angle, so that the ball would bounce back at the correct angle after contact.

This was actually very difficult.

The table tennis ball was too small, and the force applied by the opponent on the ball was too subtle. Under normal circumstances, it was difficult to fully understand. Therefore, the correct way for players to respond was to apply greater force to the ball themselves and hit it back along a trajectory they designed.

So Wang Chao's current style of play was not the orthodox way, but the evil path.

Not only was this method extremely difficult, but the error rate was also very high. Most importantly, what future could pure defense have?

In table tennis, the defender was always more likely to make a mistake than the attacker.

Wang Bin felt a pang of regret but couldn't say anything. He had to admit that Wang Chao, being physically exhausted, simply didn't have the strength to do much more. He could only defend like this, waiting to be broken through by his opponent.

Wang Bin waited for Wang Chao to be broken through and lose points.

But Wang Chao surprisingly held on. While he was contemplating, he had already endured four more shots. Zhao Ge had smashed the ball for the eleventh time. The crowd at the side of the court loudly counted the score, cheering for Zhao Ge.

"Twelve!"

"Thirteen!"

"Fourteen!"

"Fifteen... Wow!"

"This guy is amazing! He actually tied it up!"

Everyone erupted in excitement because, under Zhao Ge's increasingly powerful offensive, it was Wang Chao who ultimately emerged victorious.

He stood by the table, unremarkable, not retreating a single step. He merely adjusted his stance and used Zhao Ge's own power against him. It looked as if he were a tiny boat in a stormy sea, on the verge of capsizing, but in the end, the waves themselves broke, while the little boat remained safe and sound.

Wang Bin let out another "Tsk."

He didn't quite understand how Wang Chao managed it. Was he predicting the ball's landing spot every time?

Otherwise, how could he possibly keep up with Zhao Ge's rhythm?

But how could anyone possibly do something like that!

He shook his head, chuckling at himself, thinking he was just scaring himself.

It must have been a coincidence.

He was still sure Zhao Ge would win, but he still admired Wang Chao's perseverance and mindset.

"He's a good prospect."

"It's just a shame... he didn't start training from a young age."

"He's too old now, his physical condition is too poor, he missed his golden period..."

The players were also complaining.

"What's Zhao Ge doing? He's just hitting to one spot, why doesn't he move the ball around?"

"Yeah, the other guy just stands there and blocks everything without even moving."

"He knows that guy can't move, yet he doesn't adapt."

"If he just hit a line shot, he would have won. What a shame."

"He's just like that, always playing aggressively, no brains."

The surrounding noise didn't affect Wang Chao, but it made Zhao Ge a little uncomfortable. He made a shushing gesture to the crowd and then continued the match.

The subsequent battle became even more bizarre.

During Wang Chao's service rotation, he served two balls and inexplicably won two points. Zhao Ge mishandled a backspin and a topspin serve, looking completely lost.

The score flipped, becoming 6:4.

It was Zhao Ge's turn to serve, and he again went for a long serve, then looked for an opportunity to attack immediately.

Then the situation reverted to what it was before.

Zhao Ge started attacking wildly, while Wang Chao continued with basic blocks. Inexplicably, he blocked four more shots. Then Zhao Ge got angry. He executed a sharp side-step, a drop-step, a twist of his hips and waist, putting all his strength into a wild smash.

Watching this powerful move, Zhao Fuqiang by the sidelines nodded repeatedly, very satisfied, because the posture was indeed standard, maximizing the power output.

Unfortunately, it was still blocked.

And because this shot had too much power, Wang Chao used Zhao Ge's force against him, causing the return shot to be equally fast. Zhao Ge himself couldn't handle it and was hit by a beautiful return shot from Wang Chao.

7:4.

"What the hell, is Zhao Ge an idiot?"

"He's still hitting to the same spot."

"Doesn't he know how to change the angle?"

"Coach Zhao? Hurry up and call a timeout. Your nephew's brain is malfunctioning, remind him quickly."

"Hahahaha, call a timeout for what? This isn't an official match, how can you call a timeout? Wang Chao is going in alone to face the challenge."

The players were anxious and angry, wishing they could go play for Zhao Ge. Meanwhile, the four coaches on the sidelines had actually quieted down.

Zhao Fuqiang certainly wouldn't call a timeout.

After all, he was a coach, and he could see that Zhao Ge's brain was not malfunctioning.

It wasn't that Zhao Ge didn't want to change the angle, but that he simply couldn't.