Penhold vs. Shakehand

"Coach He, who do you think will win today?"

Luo Zhihong took the opportunity to slip over to He Jingping's side and strike up a quiet conversation.

He had spent several years with He Jingping at the training base. Although he had always treated him with care, they had never really interacted much, because He Jingping refused to engage with others.

It was precisely because they were not close that he could not call him Coach He in the familiar way. He had to address him as Coach He, that extra word adding another measure of distance and respect.

Old Luo had made his calculations well today. If He Jingping had not come, so be it, but since he had come to watch the match, it would make no sense not to say something.

Sure enough, He Jingping did not refuse him. Instead, he seemed rather interested. "This match isn't about who wins or loses. It's about the larger trend... Xiao Luo, haven't you realized that this is a microcosm of the current conflict between penhold and shakehand styles?"

Luo Zhihong froze for a moment, then suddenly understood and blurted out, "That's right!"

In fact, the table tennis world had already been debating shakehand versus penhold for the past decade.

Chinese table tennis had initially risen through penhold fast attacks. Generation after generation of players had used China's traditional penhold fast-attack style to win gold medals on the international stage, building tremendous national confidence. Yet no one knew when it had begun, but fewer and fewer people practiced penhold, while shakehand players began appearing in large numbers on both amateur and professional courts.

The shakehand style came from Europe. Compared to penhold, it was more balanced on both sides, easier to generate power with, and much faster to learn.

There was a saying in the martial world: penhold takes a year before you can compete, while shakehand can beat people after half a year.

Of course, there was an even more tragic style: defensive chopping, which took three years just to get started...

In short, as the International Table Tennis Federation kept increasing the standard size of table tennis balls, ball speed dropped accordingly. That placed greater emphasis on power and spin, allowing loop shots to become widespread. Shakehand grip happened to fit the two-wing loop style perfectly.

At the same time, as table tennis techniques continued to mature, numerous attacking methods were developed, and penhold players' awkwardness on the backhand side became increasingly apparent.

The traditional penhold backhand block gradually became insufficient.

The newly developed Penhold Backhand Loop, meanwhile, was excessively difficult to practice and had an extremely low success rate for producing elite players.

Most importantly, over the past decade, the World Champions at major tournaments had almost all become shakehand players.

Penhold had already disappeared completely from Europe.

The two Asian nations of Sakura Country and Kimchi Country still maintained an extremely thin penhold lineage.

China's policy was even more extreme. It directly required the national team to have at least one penhold player, and that player had to compete in singles rather than specialize in doubles.

Thanks to China's deep reserves in table tennis, they could select from countless prospects and somehow choose one exceptionally gifted penhold player every generation, struggling to keep the penhold lineage alive in world table tennis.

The penhold representative of China's current national team was Bai Feng, who had lost to Hans Bayer last night.

"Wang Chao is already the most gifted penhold player I've seen in recent years. He has brought the delicacy of a penhold player's forehand touch shots to its fullest extent. Even his Penhold Backhand Loop carries a few traces of Bai Feng's flair. His only weakness is a lack of power. He simply can't produce the explosive forehand loops that penhold players are known for."

He Jingping's voice carried a hint of regret. "If I'd seen him seven years ago, I definitely would've fought to take him as my disciple."

Luo Zhihong nodded slightly.

As the city team's head coach, he was well informed. He vaguely knew the real reason He Jingping had resigned. Still, he was shaken. Coach He thought so highly of Wang Chao?

"But don't you think Wang Chao is a little old? He's already eighteen, and he never received professional training as a child." Luo Zhihong still asked the question that had weighed on his mind for a long time.

He Jingping smiled and shook his head, unconcerned. "What does that matter? He's a genius!"

He paused, then emphasized, "You think Wu Li is a genius, but I think Wu Li is merely talented. Wang Chao, however, is a genius whose talent is absolutely no less than Luo Jiu's!"

Luo Zhihong was too stunned to speak.

"So even if Wang Chao loses today, he doesn't need to be discouraged." He Jingping sighed again, with an undercurrent of regret. "Tell me, why does a genius like him have to use penhold?"

The implication was clear: if Wang Chao had used shakehand, Wu Li would have been the one losing today.

Luo Zhihong froze again. Then he remembered that He Jingping was a staunch supporter of the shakehand style, while his disciple Luo Jiu had once been praised by the International Table Tennis Federation as "the most advanced master of two-wing shakehand loops."

At that moment, Old Luo understood everything.

He Jingping's hands must have been itching.

His fear of leading a student astray was probably just an excuse. What he truly regretted was that Wang Chao used penhold...

Otherwise, Luo Jiu might already have had a junior disciple.

As they spoke, several more rallies had already been played, and the score became 4:1.

The match was extraordinarily intense and exciting. The level was so high that it barely seemed like a city team match, yet after five points, Wang Chao was still being firmly suppressed.

Just as Liu Heng had summarized in the dorm yesterday, Wang Chao's attacks were not strong enough. He was too soft. No matter how much he changed directions or deceived his opponent, he simply could not put Wu Li away.

And once the rallies dragged on, Wang Chao always broke down first.

It was not that his technique was lacking, but that his endurance was insufficient. His physical condition still could not support sustained power output during such high-intensity rallies.

But Wu Li was not having an easy time either.

In fact, all five points so far had been initiated by Wang Chao's attacks.

For Wu Li, that was something that had almost never happened in the past few years.

Wu Li's attacking attributes were maxed out. Before today, everyone had called him a player with nine parts offense and one part defense. Yet against Wang Chao at full condition and full stamina, he was being suppressed so badly that he could not find any chance to attack at all.

Every time, Wang Chao found the attacking opportunity first.

But when the rally finally ended, Wang Chao was always the one who lost.

Wang Chao had the initiative but not the points.

Wu Li had the points but not the initiative.

The match had Jiang Shan's entire body tensed up. He clenched both hands tightly together, practically wishing he could rush onto the court, snatch Wang Chao's racket, and smash a shot himself!

"What a waste, what a waste... If it were me, with so many chances, I definitely could've put Wu Li away!"

The little brat muttered nonstop throughout the match, barely closing his mouth once.

"See that?" He Jingping said quietly. "In terms of technique and tactics, he has a complete advantage. He only lacks physical conditioning... But physical conditioning can be improved. I guarantee that in three months, Wu Li won't be his match anymore."

Luo Zhihong could only sigh in admiration.

He had once thought Wang Chao would be unable to beat Wu Li for at least three years, but the facts proved that a national-level coach's eye was indeed sharper.

Wu Li, who favored an attacking style, was playing nothing but defensive counterattacks today. His most powerful attacking ability could not be brought out at all.

The score rose slowly, and Wang Chao gradually began finding ways to score.

For instance, when changing directions, he stopped pushing the angles to the absolute limit and prioritized getting the ball onto the table.

For instance, he occasionally used hooked shots to disrupt Wu Li's rhythm.

For instance, he kept chopping short backspin balls throughout, dragging Wu Li into a battle of touch and seeing whose short-game technique was more delicate.

For instance, he occasionally snuck in a surprise attack.

5:1.

5:2.

6:2.

7:2.

7:3.

7:4.

8:4.

9:4.

10:4.

10:5.

10:6.

11:6.

The first game ended, the final score settling at 11:6. Despite giving it everything he had, Wang Chao still failed to make up the final gap.

But it was also the first time in Wu Li's life that his entire body had been soaked in sweat after a single game.

The pressure Wang Chao had placed on him was unmatched.

When he went to the cafeteria yesterday to challenge Wang Chao, he had never imagined facing such enormous pressure.

It looked like a mere 11:6, a wide score gap, even less competitive than the final two games of their last encounter. But only Wu Li knew that last time, he had performed normally, while today, he had performed beyond his usual level.

To return Wang Chao's attacks that landed almost entirely in dead angles, to chase down Wang Chao's unfathomable changes of direction, he had pushed his body frantically. Even his calf muscles were beginning to ache faintly, showing just how much stamina that game had consumed.

Yet he felt gratified, and an uncontrollable faint smile appeared on his face.

He still remembered the harsh words Wang Chao had spoken in the cafeteria yesterday.

But now, although he had won in a miserable fashion, he had won nonetheless.

From here on, his endurance would certainly be stronger than Wang Chao's, so the gap between them would only widen. There would be no possibility of a comeback.

Today, he had fought Wang Chao fair and square, with Coach He Jingping watching in person. If he could win 4:0, that should be convincing enough, right?

Thanks to "Bad Guest Emperor" and "Clear River Flowing Clouds" for their monthly votes, and thanks to "Autumn Wind Small Building" for the donation.

One chapter at 12:00 today, one at 15:00, and one at 17:00.