Ling Zhi looked at Shi Yulu who was catching up, feeling helpless:
"Tell me, what kind of style does Coach Xingchen usually have? Don't you know yet? He just talks about it. You don't really believe it."
Seeing that Shi Yulu is past the age of innocence, is it possible that Coach Xingchen is still treating her like a child?
Shi Yulu slapped her mouth, folded her arms, and looked at Ling Zhi with a half-smile:
"Oh, don't be angry. Do you really want to go to the national group? I just think that Coach Xingchen's students should not just have the strength of the national group, so I gave you a push at the right time, haha.
.....”
"Then I'm really grateful...thank you...uh!"
Ling Zhi gritted his teeth and said.
Shi Yulu chuckled lightly, then straightened her expression and said:
"Okay! Since you are the coach's student, we are half classmates. And you are older than me, so you can barely be my senior brother. A senior brother should act like a senior brother. Look at Alexander, his wealth
If you are determined to challenge the strong, it would be better if you just want to retreat."
Ling Zhi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. What is this? Junior sister teaching senior brother a lesson?
Lingzhi didn't understand the truth behind Shi Yulu's words. Of course he also wanted to compete with the strong. However, the last match with Jin Zhen made him somewhat worried:
I am very willing to challenge strong people, but are other strong people willing to duel with me?
Thinking of this, Jin Zhen's sarcastic words at the end of the last duel lingered in his ears again.
Just for defending a few more shots, he was called a "cancer"-like figure. This was definitely not the result he wanted to see!
The purpose of the Citizen Cup is to promote snooker as a sport. Too much defense does not seem to be liked by too many players, and it will not be conducive to the promotion of this sport.
Well, since his style of play is so unpopular, Ling Zhi decided from the beginning that this competition would just be in the national group. In this way, he could simply play freely and not be afraid of any ball.
.
But the matter has come to this, and there is no room for regret. Since you are all forcing me, don’t blame me for being rude!
"Okay, now you have achieved your goal, haven't you? Then I will listen to you, move forward bravely, and challenge the strong. Now you are satisfied, right?"
"Hey, that's pretty much it, so don't embarrass the coach."
Shi Yulu didn't know why, thinking that Ling Zhi had figured it out, so he left with satisfaction. Little did he know that Ling Zhi just said some polite words and quickly sent the little girl away.
Just as he was preparing to find a corner to kill time by himself, Jin Zhen unexpectedly walked over to him again.
Ling Zhi thought for a moment and didn't pretend not to see him, but he simply stood there without moving and had no intention of saying hello to him.
Jin Zhen came to Ling Zhi, smiled and said:
"Don't be so serious. Since you dare to come to the competition today, it means your strength has improved somewhat in the past few months."
Naturally, Ling Zhi would not be confused by Jin Zhen's smiling face, and just responded lightly:
"thanks to you."
Jin Zhen was choked and seemed to be dissatisfied with Ling Zhi's ambiguous answer:
"Hmph! I won't argue too much with you in today's competition. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your performance."
After saying that, he didn't want to talk nonsense to Ling Zhi anymore, so he turned around and left. Ling Zhi was naturally happy to have some time to relax.
In fact, others may not understand why, but Jin Zhen knows very well that it was some luck that Ling Zhi beat him last time.
As for the true strength of Lexus, he might be able to do well in the national group, but when he gets to the elite group, that kid will definitely be in trouble! After all, the players in the elite group all have quasi-professional level or even formal professional qualifications.
people!
That's right! Jin Zhen is indeed still brooding about what happened last time. He has always felt unhappy about his failure in front of Lexus. So this time, let's tie him to the elite group and let others kill his spirit.
.
If he is "lucky" and draws lots to himself, that would be even better, and he can kill this so-called "world champion" in the cradle with his own hands!
Jin Zhen didn't know that at the same time, Chang Cuo also had the same idea as him. As for how to teach Ling Zhi, Chang Cuo had his own way.
...
At 2:30 pm, the draw took place as scheduled.
Regardless of whether it is the national group or the elite group, this competition will all adopt a single-elimination knockout competition. That is, if you win, you will advance, if you lose, you will be eliminated. It is simple and direct.
The reason why there is no need for a double-elimination tournament is mainly because Snooker's games are generally relatively long. If a double-elimination tournament is used, it is estimated that the club will not be open for the next few days.
Originally, Xie Yixin estimated before the competition that the number of contestants in the elite group might only be 30 at most. Unexpectedly, with the addition of Alexander and Ling Zhi, the elite group had just 32 people. This was easy to handle, and they could just compete in pairs. 5
The winner will be determined directly after the round.
In contrast, the National Group is not so easy to handle. Even if you exclude those who have withdrawn, there are still 112 people left, which is not a multiple of 2, so you must find a way to set the seeded players.
I have a few byes to make the game as fair as possible. I don’t know if Xiao Qin can handle it well.
"Um, thank you, Cai."
Huh? What a coincidence! As soon as Xie Yixin thought of Xiao Qin, he came over.
"What's wrong? Qin Yang, is there something wrong with the lottery?"
Qin Yang smiled:
"Um, Xie Cai, I thought about it and I feel like I still can't handle it well. How about the drawing of lots for the National Group? I'd rather trouble you to do it."
"Okay, okay, then I'll leave this to you."
Xie Yixin did not doubt that he was there, but thought it was Xiao Qin who was inexperienced and took the initiative to show weakness. However, he did not expect that Xiao Qin behind him had already curved his mouth.
Qin Yang came to the lottery table for the elite group, picked up the list, and prepared to start the lottery.
There are a total of 32 cards on the table, which were written temporarily by Xie Yixin.
There is a number on each card. After memorizing the number, under everyone's supervision, the referee randomly draws a number from the card. The number drawn is the contestant's entry number.
Finally, No. 1 and No. 2 play, No. 3 and No. 4 play, and so on, until No. 31 and No. 32 play.
Because there are not many players in the elite group, there will no longer be seeded players in this competition. Therefore, in theory, everyone must win 5 games to win the championship.
"Lingzhi."
Qin Yang first called Ling Zhi to draw lots, which surprised Ling Zhi. However, he didn't think much about it. He walked to the stage and saw the referee casually turning over a card:
twenty one.
Next, Qin Yang called the names of two more players. When they were drawing lots, everyone's attention was on those two players. No one noticed that Chang Cuo replaced the edge of the table with a card in his hand.
Another card in an inconspicuous place.
After the replacement, Chang Cuo whispered in Qin Yang's ear again. No one heard what they were saying except the two of them.
After the two players were drawn, Qin Yang looked at the list again and shouted:
"Peng Lin."
No one around answered.
"Well, Brother Qin, my brother Peng Lin will be here soon, can you let me smoke for him?"
"Okay, you can smoke it."
Chang Cuo pretended to search the table, and then "accidentally" opened a card on the edge of the table:
twenty two!
Huh? It seems that my opponent is this guy named Peng Lin, right?
Ling Zhi thought to himself.
No! The name Peng Lin seems familiar. I remembered it! During the nine-ball doubles match, Chang Cuo was originally going to partner with Peng Lin, right! Today, he happened to be drawn? It was really a narrow road for enemies.
But since Peng Lin didn't come, how was his handicap determined? Did Chang Cuo determine it on his behalf? It's possible.
Speaking of which, Peng Lin is from the Feiyu Billiards Club. Although he has never heard of it, he may still be somewhat famous in the billiards circle. It should be normal for the referee to determine his handicap in advance.
Thinking of this, Ling Zhi stopped thinking about it.
After a while, Qin Yang called out the name of a player again. After no one answered, he turned over a card, took a peek, and immediately put it in front of him.
"Ouch, sorry, sorry!"
Qin Yang accidentally dropped the card under the table. While apologizing to everyone, he bent down to pick up the card. Chang Cuo, on the other hand, bent down to pick up the card before Qin Yang did. The two of them completed the card under the table.
The pass. Everyone just thought it was the referee who was careless and no one noticed anything unusual.
Qin Yang looked at the numbers on the card and breathed a sigh of relief:
31.
There was no near miss, but fortunately it was not 22.
In this way, after the remaining cards are drawn, the draw ends "successfully" and the game will officially begin half an hour later.
...
That's right, all the performances just now were not accidental, Qin Yang was Chang Cuo's back-up man!
Naturally, Chang Cuo had not forgotten Ling Zhi's revelation of his foul during the nine-ball doubles match, so when he saw Ling Zhi this morning, he was holding back his anger and wanted to vent his anger verbally.
But he held it back later. After thinking about it, it was useless no matter how much he said. It just so happened that his good brother Peng Lin was also going to participate in the game today, so let Peng Lin teach him a lesson on the court instead of him!
Chang Cuo didn't dare to say anything else, but he was still very confident in Peng Lin's strength.
Peng Lin is the ace player of Feiyu billiards. Although he has never achieved any good results in China, he is a man who can hit 147 in Shecai! No matter how good Lingzhi is, he can't hit 147 in Shecai!
Thinking of this, Chang Cuo had a plan at the moment. He first asked Lingzhi to practice in the morning to let Lingzhi perform at his best. In the afternoon, he praised him again and tried to force him to enter the elite group. As for how to get him to follow
When Brother Peng Lin meets... Chang Cuo has his own way.
However, Chang Cuo did not expect that three people would come forward in the afternoon and say that Ling Zhi played well, which was beyond his expectation.
But this was exactly what he wanted. Although he didn't know why the other two would come forward, as long as the result was what he wanted, it would be fine.
The rest depends on whether the plan is implemented smoothly or not.
Next, Qin Yang took the initiative to propose that he would be responsible for drawing lots for the elite group, and the referee agreed.
But Xie Yixin has shuffled the cards of the elite group and spread them out on the table, with the numbers facing down. Even Qin Yang doesn't know which card is which? How can Ling Zhi draw Peng Lin?
So, Qin Yang first asked Ling Zhi to draw lots. After the drawing, Chang Cuo wrote the number 22 on a blank card Qin Yang gave him on the side, and replaced it with a random card on the table when no one was paying attention.
But in this case, there are two 22s on the table, what should we do?
Then we can only rely on Qin Yang's acting skills.
When he drew 22 again, he got it in front of him at lightning speed, and pretended not to hold it firmly and dropped it on the ground, asking Chang Cuo to replace the card he had originally replaced.
Come back. In this way, there will be no duplicate cards on the table! I have also fulfilled my promise to help Chang Cuo out of cheating!
Of course, he would receive a "generous" reward afterwards, but that's a story for another day.
Naturally, this is not without some risks. For example, what should I do if Xie Yixin disagrees with Qin Yang’s decision to draw lots for the elite group? Or what should I do if the two players behind Lexus draw 22?
Regarding the first point, Qin Yang is relatively confident. After all, he knows Xie Yixin very well and knows that Xie Yixin is easy to talk to.
As for the second point... there is no other way. After all, it will take some time to replace the cards, so you can't ask Peng Lin to draw the lots immediately after the Lexus is drawn.
Although the probability of one of the two players drawn after Lingzhi to draw 22 is 2/31, which is very low, if he does, Qin Yang has no choice but to declare that he did not help Chang Cuo this time and that he
A small amount of "reward" was missing. Fortunately, everything went well with the plan, and Lexus successfully drew Peng Lin.
However, what they didn't expect was that these little moves they made would arouse Ling Zhi's suspicion!