Soon, the finals of the second group of winners began.
Ling Zhi just lost quite quickly. The two losers in the first group hadn't finished the game yet, so he was able to watch the game from the side for a while.
Zhao Shiyan had a serious look on his face, as if he regarded Xu Dongyang as his formidable enemy.
However, Ling Zhi was not worried at all. He knew that at this moment, his eldest brother's physical fitness was almost reaching its limit.
Due to the competition system, if a person in the upper bracket is lucky and has a bye in the middle, he can become the winner of the upper bracket by winning 2 games.
Those in the loser group are not so lucky. If you want to become the champion of the loser group, you have to play at least 3 games tonight, and you can only lose 1 game. If you are unlucky, you will not get a bye every time.
It may take 4 games.
Although a best-of-9-inning game is not a long game in Chinese-style games, if all 4 games are played for 9 games, it will be 36 games.
In professional Chinese billiards competitions, such as the highest-level competition, the Chinese Billiards World Championships, the final uses 41 rounds of 21 wins, with an inter-game break in between.
The "heads-up" event that came into being during that epidemic period invited 8 masters, and each game adopted a 41-game 21-win format.
And today, if the elder brother loses this game and enters the loser's bracket, it seems that he will have to play at least 30 games tonight, which is close to the highest number of games in a professional game. It is a challenge for an ordinary person like him.
At the beginning of the game, Zhao Shiyan was afraid of his elder brother's strength, so he couldn't use it and didn't dare to attack. The elder brother wanted to attack, but couldn't score.
As time went by, Zhao Shiyan relaxed a little and dared to play some long positions.
At the end of the first game, both sides still had 2 balls left. Zhao Shiyan did not directly hit the black eight, but still aimed at his own full-color ball.
"You can skip the last one, don't you know?"
The eldest brother reminded her.
Big brother is still very kind and will never take advantage of you.
"Oh, well, I don't want to give up the ball, so I'd better finish the game."
Zhao Shiyan responded.
Indeed. Ling Zhi recalled the last game between Zhao Shiyan and Zhang Han, and it seemed that she was not given up by Zhang Han, even though the rules allowed it.
If Brother Xu hadn't reminded him, Ling Zhi would have even forgotten that Zhao Shiyan had a gender advantage in terms of rules. He couldn't help but praise the girl's stubbornness in his heart.
The onlookers couldn't help but whisper, some seemed to be saying that she was taking advantage of others, and some were praising her choice for not taking advantage of the other party. But Zhao Shiyan didn't seem to hear any of this, and he just lay down and took aim.
Ling Zhi looked at the people around him and breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Shi Yan also had a good figure, he was not as devilish as Mengyao, and his clothes were loose, so even though everyone around her was staring at her, they didn't look so hot at least.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel ashamed again for recommending Li Mengyao to work here. After all, he didn't stand on the girls' side and think about their problems for them.
Ling Zhi learned from the experience and thought that he would slowly change his previous insouciant attitude and start to actively pay attention to the people around him and their daily lives. In this way, when encountering problems, he would be able to empathize with others.
Zhao Shiyan didn't know the changes in Ling Zhi's heart at this time. After a fight, she finally won the first game. Just as she was about to continue swinging the ball, Xu Dongyang interrupted:
"Hey, beauty, I'll just admit defeat and enter the loser group, okay?"
Give up? This is just one game lost, isn’t it? Zhao Shiyan was confused and wanted to persuade his elder brother to hold on for a while, but Xu Dongyang smiled bitterly and continued:
"I have played 19 rounds in a row and I am so exhausted. I will probably lose this game. You might as well let me rest for a while. I might have some chances in the loser's bracket later."
"Um, that's it."
Zhao Shiyan originally didn't want to win the victory lying down, but since his elder brother had already talked about this, he couldn't persuade him anymore.
When the two were discussing filling out the game list, Xu Dongyang said that it would be enough to just write 5:0. Zhao Shiyan firmly refused and must write 5:4.
Ling Zhi stood beside him and shook his head with a smile. He won anyway, so it doesn't matter anymore. Is this girl afraid of taking advantage of others?
No, if she doesn't like taking advantage of others, why does she always like to take advantage of herself when chatting?
Thinking of this, Ling Zhi couldn't help but cover his head and sigh. However, although he received special treatment, he felt that he should not hate it.
"Hey, Ling Zhi, what are you thinking about while covering your head?"
"Well, it's okay. I just envy you. You're so lucky. I'm tired of catching up with my eldest brother, haha."
Ling Zhi hurriedly answered to cover up his embarrassment. Fortunately, the girl didn't notice Ling Zhi's abnormality and followed his words and complained:
"Oh, actually, I originally wanted to come over to play, but I didn't expect that I was directly promoted without playing a few games. I'm quite embarrassed."
Ling Zhi said to her angrily:
"You, you don't know how many people will hate you if these words spread."
Speaking of this, Ling Zhi's expression changed and he teased her:
"If you don't want to win, give up your promotion spot to big brother, haha."
Unexpectedly, the girl responded:
"I told you, brother, don't want it. I can only compensate him by asking him to play ball in the future."
"Well, you really said it. I just made a joke. You are really willing to give up your spot to him."
Although Ling Zhi knew Zhao Shiyan's temperament, she was even willing to give up victory, which Ling Zhi really didn't expect.
"Tsk, a quota is nothing."
As he spoke, Zhao Shiyan pointed at a few boys not far away and said:
"If I get to the loser's bracket, I'll have a chance to beat the shit out of them. They are definitely no match for me. You know, it's very hard to win a game with my eldest brother. I don't know if it's because he often plays with you.
I’m used to always making obstacle balls for me, alas! I can’t solve them..."
Haha! If you can’t figure it out, of course you can’t figure it out. Your playing style is just like your personality, straight-forward. It’s really hard for you to figure it out!
This girl is really enjoying the game. Oh, I wish I could maintain this mentality!
Thinking of the match he just had with Coach Xingchen, Ling Zhi was still trembling in his heart. He really didn't know how he could be like her...
"Oh! You didn't swing the ball tightly! Set it again and again!"
The angry shouts from the table next to him interrupted Ling Zhi's thoughts. He turned around and saw a man pointing at Li Mengyao who was swinging the ball and shouting.
Li Mengyao was a little panicked. She took away the tripod and followed the instructions of the coach, surrounding the ball pile tightly with her arms. Then she took out the tripod again and moved the ball pile to the middle of the table.
"There is an obvious gap between the two balls, do you see it? Hold it tighter, do you hear it?"
Li Mengyao nodded hurriedly, put the tripod back on, and tried to press the two balls that were not very close together with her hands.
But anyone who has played golf knows that the tabletop is not completely flat due to the influence of Taiwan clay. If the ball is placed at a certain point on the table, it may not necessarily stay there steadily.
Ling Zhi felt very strange. Logically speaking, in such a small game, no one would pay too much attention to whether the ball is tight. Could it be that he also plays professional games? Of course, this possibility cannot be ruled out.
Zhao Shiyan saw that Li Mengyao had been trying for a long time but still couldn't get the ball pile close to each other. He was about to go over and help her when he saw another person at the table walking over with a warm smile on his face. He naturally
He took the tripod and said:
"Let me do it."
Li Mengyao stepped aside and did not show off.
Ling Zhi noticed that the man who gave the opinion frowned and glanced at his opponent.
Combined with his previous actions of constantly picking on Li Mengyao, Ling Zhi seemed to understand that the man didn't think the ball was not tight at all, but was looking for an excuse to ask Li Mengyao to bend down so that he could "see" for a while longer.
Thinking of this, Ling Zhi felt a headache again. It seemed that he had to find an opportunity to talk to Li Mengyao. He would be responsible for the pit he dug for others.
Seeing that the matter in front of him was temporarily resolved and it was almost his turn for the next game, Ling Zhi walked to the front desk and waited for his loser's match.
Next, Lingzhi successfully won another game in the loser group. The opponent's strength was similar to that of Wu Xianfeng before. Lingzhi won relatively easily.
Not long after, Lingzhi met his last opponent in the loser group, Li Mingwei. If he beats him, he can advance to the top 8.
After Li Mingwei lost to coach Xingchen in the first round of the group stage, he won 2 consecutive games in the loser group. Like Lingzhi, they both had a record of 2 wins and 1 loss.
Although Lingzhi was not able to see the process of Li Mingwei's competition, judging from the time it took him to win two rounds, it seemed that he did not win easily.
Ling Zhi didn't think too much. It was enough to play his own game well. Paying too much attention to his opponents could easily distract him.
With the help of the "strong mentality" that he learned from coach Xingchen, Lingzhi gained a lot of confidence. After the start, he relied on a fierce offensive to quickly gain a 3:0 lead.
But the offense was not always smooth sailing. In the following games, Ling Zhi gradually made more mistakes. Li Mingwei seized the opportunity and evened the score.
Zhao Shiyan, who was sitting aside, couldn't help but sweat for Ling Zhi, and his face became serious.
After the score was equalized, Ling Zhi's slightly heated mind calmed down a little.
He recalled that in the previous few sets, both of them were attacking and not defensive at all. But now, it seemed that he didn't need to go head-to-head with him. It was going to be the match point soon, so he had to be more cautious.
In the seventh game, Lexus kicked off.
After a few shots, Lingzhi had a good long shot opportunity, but he hesitated whether to attack or not.
If you attack directly, it is easy to miss the opportunity for Li Mingwei to make a simple attack, but if you defend directly, it is easy for him to see through his tactical changes, and the subsequent situation will easily fall into a stalemate.
Ling Zhi calmly analyzed the situation at this moment. Both of them have played three games. It is a time when people and horses are exhausted, and neither of them is willing to fight a stalemate.
Ling Zhi didn't finish the entire 9 games in several sets, and he still felt a little tired, not to mention Li Mingwei, who had a more difficult time winning.
So at this moment, Li Mingwei must be thinking of a quick victory. If Lingzhi doesn't actively defend with him, he will definitely not take the initiative to defend!
How to prevent him from seeing through it?
Ling Zhi stood there for a long time. On the surface, he seemed to be hesitating whether to play the long platform, but in fact, he thought of more things.
Li Mingwei seemed a little impatient on the side. Although he did not directly urge Ling Zhi, his eyes drifted to other tables involuntarily.
It was already close to 10 o'clock in the evening, many tables had already finished the day's group matches, and many guests began to gradually occupy the vacant tables.
Ling Zhi was not affected by the surrounding environment. After making up his mind, he lay down and hit the white ball decisively.