Tian Zhengguang walked out from one side of the court.
His gaze was somewhat cold, but today he was unusually restrained. He even took the initiative to nod at Wang Chao in greeting.
Clearly, he knew this opportunity had not come easily and could not be wasted on another bout of willfulness.
He had to prove himself, crush Wang Chao, and claim the final spot in the promotion-relegation matches.
Moreover, this match between him and Wang Chao had been personally assigned by Head Coach Wang Bin.
"I can give Tian Zhengguang a chance, but in his first match, he must play Wang Chao. Only then will Wang Chao's stamina be at its fullest."
"Consider it a tiny bit of compensation for Wang Chao."
There were no spectators for this match.
The players had already scattered and begun playing simultaneously at the four tables.
The four coaches each oversaw one table. Aside from the first round, which needed to be arranged beforehand, all later matches were assigned on the fly. Whoever finished would immediately move on to the next match. The sole principle was to keep all four tables occupied and complete every match in the shortest possible time.
There were seventeen players in total and 136 matches. Every match used the standard best-of-seven format. Even with four tables, even if every match ended 4–0, each table would still have to play a full 136 games.
If they did not race against time, they probably would not finish in a single day.
For every player, that meant sixteen best-of-seven matches in succession, theoretically without any breaks in between.
For Wang Chao, who had only trained his stamina for three days, this was clearly an enormous test.
The match began.
Head Coach Wang Bin personally watched over the battle between Wang Chao and Tian Zhengguang. Following international convention, he took out a coin and had them call it. Tian Zhengguang guessed correctly and chose the right to serve.
Head Coach Wang Bin nodded to himself.
The training base's setup was not particularly scientific. In fact, the lighting on one side of this table was somewhat glaring, causing a slight disturbance to a player's vision.
Thus, players competing at this table would normally not choose to serve first. They would choose sides first instead.
But Tian Zhengguang had clearly asked around carefully about Wang Chao's matches when he first joined the team.
He did not let Wang Chao serve. Instead, with clear intent, he sent a long backhand serve to the baseline.
Over the past few days, the players had not failed to discuss ways of dealing with Wang Chao in private. In the end, they had practically reached a consensus.
"This guy's control over placement is far too precise, and he's far too good at using the opponent's force against them."
"So we can't play short balls against him, can't try to outthink him, and certainly can't attack him mindlessly."
"The best way is to restrict him at the most fundamental level: speed, power, and stamina."
Tian Zhengguang's serve was long and fast. He wanted to force Wang Chao to move around his body, making him start running from the very first point and draining his stamina as effectively as possible.
As for whether Wang Chao would step back and smash it directly?
"He won't."
Yesterday, several players had discussed that question in a small QQ group. The little brat Jiang Shan had sworn confidently, "He needs to conserve his stamina. How could he start off playing that violently? Does he not plan on surviving the rest of the day?"
Tian Zhengguang was full of confidence, waiting for Wang Chao to chop the ball back steadily so he could unleash a powerful attack.
But he had miscalculated.
Facing such a long ball, Wang Chao moved around his body without hesitation. With a smack, he drove it back. It was fast, low, and astonishingly precise, landing right on the corner of the table to Tian Zhengguang's left. Just a few more inches, and it would have gone long.
Tian Zhengguang had never expected this. He froze where he stood, not moving at all.
"1–0. Tian Zhengguang to serve," Wang Bin announced.
Tian Zhengguang became more cautious. It was only the second point of the opening game, yet he thought for a full five seconds before serving.
This time, it was another long serve to the left-side baseline.
He did not believe Wang Chao would dare keep smashing so aggressively. He thought Wang Chao was playing mind games with him.
You think I don't dare hit it, so I'll hit it anyway. Once I scare you enough, you won't dare serve like that again.
That was probably what Wang Chao was thinking...
Tian Zhengguang had a stubborn streak. He felt that he could not be intimidated.
He wanted to see whether Wang Chao would smash again.
Wang Chao really did make his move again. With another smack, he drove the ball toward the wide angle on Tian Zhengguang's left, the spot that made him most uncomfortable.
But Tian Zhengguang had been prepared this time. The moment he saw the ball coming, he stepped back, twisted his wrist, and shouted. Veins bulged on the back of his hand as he forcibly flicked it, sending back a high-quality reverse-side topspin.
This was a gamble.
A gamble meant that you knew perfectly well that the odds of killing yourself with the shot were extremely high, but you still refused to play slowly with the opponent. You insisted on deciding the match then and there, risking self-destruction as you desperately struck the ball with the highest possible difficulty.
It represented Tian Zhengguang's determination and courage.
However, it was completely useless.
He had hit the ball too hard, and his footing was already unstable. Wang Chao had long been waiting there. He simply blocked with his paddle, then flicked it along with the motion, effortlessly sending back an extremely short ball.
Tian Zhengguang had no time to rush to the table. He threw his paddle straight out, letting it slide across the tabletop in an attempt to save the ball, but it still bounced off and rolled to the floor.
2–0.
It was Wang Chao's turn to serve.
He was not as flashy as he had been in previous matches. Right from the start, he served an open, straightforward long ball to the baseline—fast, sharp, and heavily spun.
There was no feint, no trick. Tian Zhengguang saw every detail clearly.
But the ball was too fast for Tian Zhengguang to launch an immediate attack, so he returned it steadily.
Then Wang Chao attacked directly. With just one shot, he killed Tian Zhengguang's return.
3–0.
He then served another long ball to the baseline, still completely straightforward, still fast and sharp.
This time, Tian Zhengguang reacted and attacked immediately.
But Wang Chao's movement was even faster. The instant the ball came over, he smacked it back again, driving it straight down the line to a spot Tian Zhengguang could not possibly reach.
Only a minute and a half had passed, and the score was already 4–0.
Wang Bin sighed inwardly.
He had already understood Wang Chao's intentions.
This round-robin today was indeed an exceptionally harsh test of Wang Chao's stamina.
Wang Chao truly needed to find a way to conserve his energy.
But the method Wang Chao had chosen was not to give up attacking or stop exerting force. It was to crush his opponents directly in the shortest possible time, using the simplest and clearest method.
Ideally, he would break the opponent's mentality in the very first game.
In other words, Tian Zhengguang had been wrong.
At that moment, Wang Bin's face burned slightly.
Because, like Tian Zhengguang, he had been wrong too.
He had also thought Wang Chao would give up attacking.
Only now did it suddenly occur to him: That wasn't right! Wang Chao had not held back yesterday because defense truly required less energy than offense. It was because his stamina had already been exhausted before the match had even begun.
He simply had not been able to exert force. It was not that he had not wanted to!
This grudge match between Wang Chao and Tian Zhengguang seemed to have been given extraordinary significance, yet the match itself had effectively been killed at 4–0.
After that, the score continued climbing.
5–0.
6–0.
7–0.
8–0.
8–1.
9–1.
10–1.
In the end, the first game ended at 11–1. Tian Zhengguang had scored only one point.
That point had come purely from an attacking error by Wang Chao. His topspin had gone into the net.
Only at moments like this did Wang Bin feel that he was watching a city-team-level match rather than a national-level match.
This little guy who had just joined the team was still human after all. He made mistakes, he committed errors, and after failing a smash, he even cried out in frustration.
Tian Zhengguang's forehead was covered in sweat. Large drops rolled down from his hair, making his dazed face look particularly bedraggled.
He was starting to despair.
Over the course of that game, he had tried every possible method and used every possible tactic, but none of them had worked.
When he served long, Wang Chao attacked immediately. When he served short, Wang Chao flicked immediately.
When he attacked first, Wang Chao counterlooped immediately.
When he defended...
He simply could not defend!
This game had not actually been exciting, because no rally had lasted more than five exchanges. Almost every point ended quickly after Wang Chao launched his attack and Tian Zhengguang promptly collapsed.
If what everyone had seen three days ago was Wang Chao's defensive ability, then today, he displayed an incomparable attacking ability.
He did not need tremendous power. He only needed to hit the ball to the right placement at the right moment to create a one-shot kill.
"Again!" Tian Zhengguang said hoarsely.
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