Chapter 59: Advance to the Finals
"The match begins. Yuushi Oshitari and Takehito Mukai from Hyotei Academy will serve."
Oshitari, who was guarding the backcourt, tapped the tennis ball twice.
Swish!
The tennis ball flew into the air, Oshitari shrugged his shoulders slightly, kicked his feet hard, exerted force from his originally tense waist, drove his elbows, swung the racket and hit the tennis ball in the air heavily.
Work together with your whole body.
One of the thousands of techniques of Oshitsuki.
The tennis ball was carried in the air with a strong airflow and headed straight for the right half of the hexagonal duo.
“Good job!”
Faced with such a powerful ball, Rokkaku's Araki did not show the slightest sign of panic.
tread!
Just moving one step to the right, he stretched his arms to their full extent, and with the help of the extra-long racket, he easily caught the powerful serve.
boom!
The tennis ball reflex is no slower than Oshitari's serve.
Whoosh…
With a slight backspin, it hits directly towards the center line.
"No passing here!"
Xiangri chuckled and jumped nimbly to block the return ball in front of him. At the same time, his left hand made a secret signal behind his back that the opponent could not notice.
Code tactics!
A special tactic learned from Yamabuki doubles, which can effectively seize the initiative on the court when the opponent is unaware.
Sure enough, Xiangri's interception at the net did not pose any problem for Rokukaku's Sada. Facing the tricky angled stunt return, he was still blocked by his wooden racket.
boom!
With a crisp sound of hitting the ball, the tennis ball was hit into the open right corner of Xiangri.
“Got it!”
The corners of Liujiao's mouth curled up slightly. Their special rackets also have a considerable inhibitory effect on this kind of special shot.
"I was fooled~"
Xiangri, who was half squatting on the ground, narrowed his eyes. How could he make such a simple mistake?
Behind him, Oshitari passed by like a ghost, almost in sync with the tennis ball, and the ball was hit by Oshitari's racket the moment it landed.
Boom!
The racket is held vertically and pulled upwards. A straight bottom corner shot is hit.
Swish~
A pale yellow light flashed, and a white ball mark was left precisely on the bottom line of the hexagon.
"15-0!"
“What a fast speed!”
With a hint of shock, Sada and Araki looked at each other. In their eyes, Oshitari seemed to have suddenly moved to the right side of the court, leaving them unable to react at all.
As expected of the Ice Emperor, the two men looked solemn and did not dare to be careless in the slightest.
This side.
Oshitari's mouth curled slightly, and after seeing Xiangri's finger movements behind him, he kicked the ball again...
…
Outside the field, Liu Jiao's father turned his head slightly, opened his eyes, and in an instant he understood a little.
"Young people are to be feared..."
He knew that the opposing team, Hyotei, only had two first-year students on the field.
boom!
boom!
The court was full of exchanges, and after Hyotei won the first game, Rokkaku also saved his serve.
The score is 1-1.
"Come on, Araki-senpai, Sada-senpai!" Saeki cheered for his seniors on the sidelines.
Being able to stabilize the situation from the powerful Ice Emperor, in his current opinion, the seniors are not without a chance of winning. After all, with the rackets made by his father, they are confident that they can play against even the strongest opponents.
"Don't be careless, Saeki~"
Rokkaku's current director, Moriharu Tsuyoshi, reminded that although Saeki is a good newcomer, his vision is sometimes too one-sided.
"Buyer, what's wrong?" Saeki Torajiro was a little confused.
"Araki and Sada's physical exertion is too abnormal."
Sheng Zhigang pointed lightly with his finger and could clearly see that the foreheads of the six-cornered duo off the court began to sweat, and a small area of their backs were also soaked.
"how come!?"
Saeki was shocked. He knew how hard his predecessors had trained. They had developed strong physical strength by practicing sprinting on the sand track. But now...
“That’s why I fought back~”
Just then, a feminine voice sounded not far from the two of them.
Guan Yuechu fiddled with the hair on her forehead with a suggestive smile on her lips.
"Who are you?"
Sheng Zhigang frowned and looked at the uninvited guest who broke into his team area.
"I am Guan Yuechu from Saint Rudolph. Weren't you just curious about the methods of Hyotei? I can tell you the answer~"
Guan Yue smiled slightly, seeming to be confident about the upcoming conversation.
"No, if you have nothing else to do, please leave."
Sheng Zhigang's face turned cold, and he winked at the person beside him. In an instant, the other two tall six-cornered players blocked Guan Yuechu's way.
"you……"
Guan Yuechu's originally complacent smile instantly froze on his face.
"Humph~ You deserved to lose to Hyotei!"
Leaving behind these words to vent his anger, Guanyue hurriedly left Liujiao's position.
"Senior, why did you just…"
Saeki looked at the minister who had just been angry and felt somewhat puzzled. It seemed that Saint Rudolph was here to provide information.
"Saeki, what is the spirit of our Rokukaku tennis?"
Shengzhi just asked an irrelevant question, and then, without waiting for Saeki to answer, he raised his voice slightly and answered himself: "Dad taught us to play tennis happily, and we should be open and honest regardless of winning or losing."
"look!"
He pointed his finger.
“Although Araki and Sada are at a disadvantage due to their opponents’ moves, they will not be lost, nor will they give up, because everyone in our Rokkaku will enjoy every game they play.”
"I'm sorry, Senior!"
Saeki looked ashamed and bowed his head to apologize for his previous thoughts.
"It doesn't matter if we lose, we can just try to win again. We don't want to rely on some people with ulterior motives to win." Sheng Zhigang said softly, slowing down his tone. Saeki is the pillar of the next generation of their tennis club, and he doesn't want them to make mistakes in the future.
Would Guan Yuechu from St. Rudolph be so kind? Having followed his predecessors through several national competitions, he already understood the darkness and danger involved.
This little disturbance did not attract the attention of other people, except for Guan Yuechu who was outside the venue, who had a rather unhappy expression on his face.
After losing to Hyotei, he carefully studied the information of each player of Hyotei. He originally wanted to cooperate with Hyotei's biggest rival Rikkai University, but Rikkai University ignored him. He was so angry that he ran to Rokkaku again today, but he didn't expect to receive the same treatment.
He was a little confused. If Rikkai University was confident, then why was Rokkaku so confident?
…
On the court.
Oshina and Hibiki, who had been implementing the tactics all along, cooperated more and more tacitly. On the other hand, after struggling for a few rounds, the Rokkaku duo was gradually torn apart by Oshina and his team.
finally…
boom!
With a difficult high-altitude stunt smash from Takehito Mukai, Hyotei won the doubles match.
"Game, Hyotei Academy Oshitari Yuushi, Mukaito Taketo, 6-2"
"The game is over, Hyotei is leading 1-0!"
As the referee announced the result, the two teams shook hands.
Looking at the slightly trembling right wrists of the Rokkaku duo, Oshitari and Mukuhi smiled at each other.
The tactic worked!
According to Ueyama Yu's analysis, although the hexagonal racket is a powerful weapon, it is excellent in terms of attack range, defense range and returning power balls, but the overly long racket also puts more stringent requirements on the wrist and arm.
Each return shot requires more power or rotation than a normal shot, which becomes a weakness that can be exploited.
Under the skilled hands of the Oshina, the various hidden tricks are essentially used to continuously consume the opponent's wrist and physical strength.
Therefore, even if the opponent sees through the secret code tactics from the third game onwards, it doesn’t matter, because it was just a cover from the beginning.
…
After a short break, the first doubles match officially began.
I don’t know what Liujiao’s father and the players told him to do, but Liujiao played extra cautiously in this game.
Not only was the score very close, but the game even went into a tiebreak.
Fortunately, Kaida Nobuyuki and Sakamoto Yuji had undergone special training, so their physical strength was not a weakness, and they eventually won 7-6.
“Huh~”
As soon as they got off the stage, the two of them no longer controlled their breathing rhythm and started gasping for breath.
This was the first time that the two had such a difficult match since they formed a doubles team. They were worthy of being Rokukaku's first doubles team. With the help of special rackets, they had narrowed the gap between them and the Hyotei duo.
"We almost held the team back." The two looked at each other and sighed slightly.
The opponents will only become stronger and stronger. From the upcoming finals to next month's national competition, every game will be a test.
after…
In singles match 3, Hyotei played with Yu Kamisama. Rokkaku didn't stand a chance.
Amid Saeki's shocked expression, Uesugi Yu cleanly defeated Rokkaku's captain Moriharu 6-0, even though he was also a top player in Kanto.
"The game is over, Hyotei Academy wins, the total score is 3-0!"
The referee's voice sounded on the radio, completely announcing that Bingdi had won the victory.
This match also allowed the spectators to once again witness the strength of Hyotei. Even the national level Rokkaku was unable to score a single point against Hyotei.
…
at the same time.
On the other side of the court, Genichirō Sanada swung the racket so fast that it was impossible to see clearly.
boom!
"Game, Rikkai University Affiliated High School Genichiro Sanada, 6-0"
"The game is over, Rikkai University Affiliated Middle School won, the total score is 3-0!"
Also with a score of 3-0, Sanada showed no mercy and completely defeated Yamabuki's super rookie Sengoku Kiyomizu.
With only five minutes difference, both teams advanced to the finals of the Kanto competition at the same time.
