21:19.
Jian Changnian won the game by a narrow margin.
Xie Shi'an quietly breathed a sigh of relief and released the ballpoint pen from his hand.
The woman in the stands exclaimed sincerely, "I never imagined she was this good. Shi An's tactics were also very successful."
By taking advantage of Jin Nanzhi's arrogance, Jian Changnian deliberately lost the first game, thus undermining her vigilance and encouraging her arrogance.
As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall.
Jian Changnian's observation skills, reaction speed, physical coordination, endurance, explosive power... and even mentality are all top-notch.
She's no longer the little bean sprout who would hide and cry secretly after losing a game.
When she saw Jian Changnian throw down her racket, run over and hug Xie Shi'an to cheer, there seemed to be a hint of envy and a hint of regret in her eyes.
"I never expected that Shi An would even teach her his signature move."
The third game was a showdown of titans.
Before going on stage, Kim Nam-ji exchanged a glance with her coach, who nodded, indicating that she should play with confidence.
Kim Nam-ji took a deep breath, glanced at Xie Shi-an on the opposite coaching bench, and strode onto the field.
Out of the corner of her eye, Xie Shi'an noticed that Kim Nam-ji had already passed by and that Chien Chang-nian was about to go on stage. She moved her lips and called out to her.
"Whether we win or lose, I, Lao Yan, Zhou Mu, Qi Dong, and all the brothers and sisters of the Binhai Provincial Team are proud of you."
Even though they won the second game, it was only by exhausting their opponent's stamina, and it wasn't an easy win.
Xie Shi'an knew that the third game would be the real test, and no one could help her; she would have to fight back point by point on her own.
So there are some things she wants to say now, to give her some confidence. Even if she loses, it doesn't matter. Jian Changnian is different from her. She is still very young, so her future is promising.
When Xie Shi'an spoke, his gaze was calm, yet contained a hint of gentleness and certainty. The faint smile on his lips melted away his cold demeanor like ice and snow.
Jian Changnian felt a sudden pang of sadness. Yes, she knew that even if they couldn't come to watch the game in person, they must be watching everything that happened today from somewhere far away.
May Lao Yan's spirit in heaven bless her and help her win this world championship.
Jian Changnian prayed silently in her heart and reached out her hand to give her a high five, just like before.
"I know, thank you."
After the first two rounds, both sides had exhausted their physical strength and stamina, and they could also figure out each other's tactics. During training breaks, she spent many days and nights in her dormitory watching Kim Nam-ji's match videos, and the one she watched most often was the one from the Rio Olympics four years ago.
This is the moment we've been waiting for.
Jian Changnian swung his racket and hit the ball hard. The ball landed in front of the net and scored, bringing the score to 11-11. The whole stadium cheered. There was a one-minute break at halftime, and then the two sides switched sides.
As the competition entered its second half, the battle intensified, with both sides giving their all to win, resulting in a very close score.
"More rounds! 56, 57, 58..." The commentator counted the rounds for them, his voice gradually becoming more excited.
"Still playing! Jian Changnian caught this ball!"
Kim Nam-ji never expected that she would be entangled with Jian Changnian for so long; in her ideal scenario, the match should have ended 2-0 long ago.
The last person who could fight her so fiercely was...
Thinking of this, Kim Nam-ji gritted his teeth, made a feint with his backhand, and then jumped up to smash the ball, determined to win another point.
Jian Changnian's eyes sharpened as he caught her subtle movement. He took a few steps back and was about to send the ball back with a perfect lob, but he slipped and lost his strength, and the ball landed in front of his own net.
Kim Nam-ji scores.
"A thrilling rally! The two sides battled for a full 94 shots before the winner was decided!"
Sitting on the coach's bench, Xie Shi'an pursed her lips slightly, noticing that the ground on her side was damp because of the sweat stains.
After losing that point, Jian Changnian noticed the impact and raised his hand to signal the referee to stop the game and clean the field again.
The chief referee checked the time and the score, then shook his head and rejected her request.
"You switched sides and cleaned up during halftime ten minutes ago. Please continue the game."
The score was now 15-14, with Jian Changnian trailing by one point. The game had become intense, and the atmosphere on the court was noticeably tense.
Tokyo is incredibly hot. Even with air conditioning on indoors, it feels like being in a sauna.
Jian Changnian was sweating profusely, which meant that the sweat got into her eyes in the blink of an eye.
Kim Nam-ji scores again with a smash!
Jian Changnian's eyes reddened with anxiety. She wiped her face with a clean piece of clothing from the shoulder area and continued to raise her head to play. But perhaps the more anxious she became, the more chaotic her actions became. She made a series of mistakes, and another ball was ruled out of bounds.
The score was now 15-18.
The opponent served a tricky net shot, and Jian Changnian flew to save it, only to fall to the ground.
Xie Shi'an, sitting on the coach's bench, frowned and kept pressing the ballpoint pen in her hand, a sign of her nervousness.
Wan Jing frowned as well: "The replay is out, the ball definitely didn't cross the net, Chang Nian's condition is probably..."
"She was affected by the referee and the field conditions. I just saw that sweat was running into her eyes, otherwise she would have been able to catch that ball."
If things continue like this, the odds are against us.
Xie Shi'an got up and requested a pause.
When Jian Changnian returned to the rest area, she sat on a chair with her head down, panting. Her hair was wet, and her knee, which she had just fallen on, was red and swollen.
The team doctor is giving her emergency treatment.
Xie Shi'an handed her a bottle of mineral water, looking at her injuries with concern in his eyes: "Can you continue?"
Jian Changnian suddenly looked up and spat out the word "can" through gritted teeth.
Kim Nam-ji, who was on the opposite side, was also resting. She was drinking water and having her teammates fan her. She even took the time to make an unseemly gesture at her.
Jian Changnian's anger flared, and she threw the towel around her neck: "You saw it yourself, why wouldn't the referee let us clean the field? The ground was so slippery, we couldn't stand at all!!!"
With limited rest time, Xie Shi'an couldn't say too much to her. She simply picked up the towel she had thrown on the chair, wiped the sweat from her hair, and then gently patted her head.
"Xiao Jian, do you remember what Lao Yan said? In competitive sports, you should win with dignity and lose gracefully. The only person who can defeat you is yourself."
Since she returned from the United States to coach, she rarely calls her by her nickname in public to avoid suspicion.
She used to be called "Bean Sprout" all the time, and occasionally when she won a game and was in a good mood, he would call her "Chang Nian." She hadn't heard such an affectionate nickname as "Xiao Jian" in a long time.
Old Yan used to be the only one who would call out like that.
Jian Changnian felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and her eyes welled up with tears. She took the towel from Xie Shi'an's hand and wiped her face, knowing that she shouldn't have lost her temper with her.
"I'm leaving."
Her retreating figure as she walked towards the arena exuded a sense of unwavering courage and determination, as if she would not return until she had conquered Loulan.
I don't know who started shouting "Jian Changnian, keep going!"
Once there's a first, there's a second, and the whole stadium erupts in cheers.
Amidst the deafening cheers, Jian Changnian twirled his racket and strode confidently onto the court.
The camera panned to the audience, where someone was holding a red banner that read, "Jian Changnian, number one in the world!"
The commentator laughed and said, "Oh, this is Zhao Qidong, a badminton player from our country. Although he has retired, he and Jian Changnian were teammates when they trained in the Binhai Provincial Team. I didn't expect him to come to the scene to watch the game today."
"It's not just Zhao Qidong, look, her former teammates have all come to cheer her on."
The camera panned across a series of familiar faces before finally focusing on Xie Shi'an.
The commentator continued, "It seems that Jian Changnian's injury is not serious. He has scored another point. The most nervous person now should be our Coach Xie."
"Coach Xie, as a former world badminton star, has faced Kim Nam-ji many times in her career, with both sides winning and losing. They can be considered arch-rivals."
"As the youngest coach in the history of the Chinese team, and this is her first time leading the team to the Olympics, this medal is very important to both of them."
As the commentator's voice rang out, the game reached its climax, and whoever scored a point would be met with a burst of enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
Amidst the deafening cheers, Jian Changnian suddenly recalled a long time ago, when she first participated in the national competition.
As a newcomer, defeat is a common occurrence, and back then she would only secretly hide and cry.
It was Lao Yan who found her.
At that time, the old man was still in good health and could jump onto the parallel bars on the playground. The stars were also very bright that night.
Old Yan patted the spot next to him, gesturing for her to come up as well. The moonlight cast long, long shadows of the two of them.
That was the most important day of her career, so Jian Changnian remembers it very clearly. Old Yan said:
"Xiao Jian, did you enjoy playing ball?"
As a child, Jian Changnian was still quite naive. She nodded blankly, tears still on her face, sobbing intermittently.
"I'm happy when I'm holding a racket, I don't have to think about anything, but it seems like I can't beat anyone."
Old Yan smiled at her and patted her head: "Go and enjoy the game. Aside from winning or losing, playing ball can make you feel happy, and that's enough."
"But I've embarrassed you..."
"How could that be? You are my proudest student."
Jian Changnian raised the corners of his lips slightly, jumped up suddenly, stretched out his left hand to adjust his body direction, and smashed with his right hand. The force was so great that with a bang, the badminton shuttlecock collided with the racket and even produced a faint spark.
"Jian Changnian scores with a smash!!"
The entire stadium cheered, and even the commentator couldn't help but applaud her.
"This is the power of my country's new generation of players after Xie Shi'an. Even though her performance was affected by some off-court factors, she was able to make amazing plays after a short adjustment and reverse the situation. Whether she wins the championship today or not, she is the uncrowned queen!!"
When the ball landed, even Kim Nam-ji was startled, clearly sensing something different about her; her fighting spirit was rekindling.
Kim Nam-ji gritted his teeth and glanced at the electronic scoreboard.
15:18.
Not wanting to let her tie the score, Jin Nanzhi took a deep breath and served a backhand serve at the net, intending to launch a quick attack and win the match in one fell swoop. However, she didn't know if she was cursed or what, but her opponent blocked her shots every time. On the contrary, the more anxious she became, the more mistakes she made, and Jian Changnian seized the opportunity to tie the score.
18:18.
The match became a stalemate, and the atmosphere on and off the field was tense. Kim Nam-ji's coach requested a timeout.
"Now we can see that Kim Nam-ji's coach has called a timeout and is talking to her, probably discussing tactics."
"Regardless of who wins today, it represents the highest level of competition in the world of badminton, an unparalleled visual feast."