signingbooks If you don't do well in Chapter 78, you'll get scolded.
If you don't do well in Chapter 78, you'll get scolded.
Sanada's problem wasn't his skills, but his arrogant personality.
He treated doubles like a one-against-two singles game, focusing only on the ball and his opponents, ignoring his teammates. His partner was merely a tool, someone to fill in his position.
He never considered that the core of doubles is for two people to cover for each other and create opportunities.
And his attitude towards his partner.
Both being first-year students, how did Yanagi treat Koizumi? After each ball, he would gently remind her of her positioning, and if her partner made a mistake, he would simply say "stay calm."
What about Sanada?
He remained silent throughout, occasionally letting out a shout, his eyes filled with dissatisfaction.
Although Aoyama's fundamentals are weak, he shouldn't have played this badly. He was overwhelmed by Sanada's indifference and distrust.
Wang Yueling wrote a few more lines and then capped the pen.
Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind of a Japanese-American youth exhibition match I'd watched on DVD in my past life. Sanada and Atobe were forced into a doubles pair, but they each played their own game and neither was willing to cooperate.
He still laughs when he thinks about that tango doubles match.
Wang Yueling's lips did indeed curve into a slight smile.
Atobe turned his head and saw it, raised his eyebrows, and tapped the armrest of the seat in dissatisfaction.
"What are you laughing at? What's so funny about my opinion?"
"No." Wang Yueling looked up at him, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "I think you're absolutely right, sir."
Atobe stared at him for two seconds, his eyebrows still raised, clearly not quite believing him, but he didn't say anything more.
Ryo Mochizuki twirled the pen in his hand, then suddenly turned to look at Atobe. "Keigo, if you played doubles with Sanada, how would it turn out? Would it end up like his current situation?"
Atobe raised his hand and touched the beauty mark at the corner of his eye, then chuckled.
"I would never play such an unglamorous doubles match."
Looking at Atobe, who was quite confident in his doubles skills, Mochizuki Ryo suddenly paused for a moment.
Atobe's doubles is actually quite good. As the captain, he can adapt quickly to any partner and knows that doubles requires mutual support.
In comparison, Sanada, the vice-minister, is far inferior.
"What's with that expression?" Atobe frowned when he saw that Atobe didn't speak.
"It's nothing."
Wang Yueling withdrew her gaze, smiled, nodded in a mocking tone, and said, "I was just reminiscing about the Minister's heroic doubles performance. I just thought about it carefully and realized that the shots he hits must be spectacular, definitely not like this."
Atobe glanced at him suspiciously, but the corners of his mouth still curled up.
"Hmm, you have good taste."
Atobe glanced at the densely written notes on his coach's whiteboard, tilted his head, and asked, "You've heard my opinion, haven't you? You've been watching for so long, what's your take on this matchup?"
When he asked this question, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Wang Yueling glanced at the people around him.
Oshitari stood behind Atobe, his ear practically touching his mouth. Mukahi stood on tiptoe, Chotaro Ootori gripped his racket, and even Kabaji turned his head slightly.
What about Rikkai University...?
Niou leaned against Yagyu, his fox-like eyes narrowed, but his ears were perked up. Yagyu adjusted his glasses and leaned forward slightly.
Marui stopped chewing his gum, and Kuwabara stood beside him, his head slightly tilted in his direction. Kirihara completely abandoned watching the match, turning his entire body to stare at Mochizuki Ryo, his eyes shining brightly.
The ordinary members of Rikkai University were even more exaggerated, almost completely surrounding him, their bodies swaying wildly.
Wang Yueling withdrew her gaze and coughed deliberately.
Everyone was so frightened that they all shrank back.
Oshitari turned around to adjust his glasses; Niou looked down and played with his braids; Yagyu straightened his back to watch the court; Marui started chewing gum again; Kirihara suddenly turned his head to look at the court, his movement so fast he almost tripped over himself.
After a minute of silence, those ears quietly perked up again, still sticking out their long ends.
Wang Yueling looked at the group of people and smiled. He put the pen cap back on and tapped it lightly twice on the training board.
"Most of what Atobe said was quite fair."
He spoke softly, but everyone else could hear him clearly.
Shinobu pushed up his glasses and took half a step forward. Niou simply stopped pretending and turned around to look at him.
"Let's start with Sanada's group."
Wang Yueling continued tapping on the training board with her pen, "There are so many problems that it's hard to know where to even begin criticizing them."
The students from Rikkai University looked at each other in bewilderment.
"He played doubles like singles the whole time. He charged and attacked relentlessly by himself, while his partner was just a decoration on the court."
Wang Yueling spoke calmly, but every word hit the nail on the head: "He and Qingshan were standing on the same half of the court, while the other half was completely empty. Liu scored more than one point with just three cross-court shots."
"It's like defending a city. The city gates are tightly closed, but half of the city wall has collapsed. The enemy doesn't need to attack the city; they can just bypass the city gates."
"Isn't that ridiculous?"
Niou's lips curled up slightly. Yagyu adjusted his glasses but remained silent.
"And his attitude towards his partner."
Without looking at anyone, Wang Yueling continued, "Qingshan was so nervous his hands were shaking, and he didn't say a word the whole time. First-year partners are prone to panic, but he just yelled, making the other person even more afraid to move."
"Aoyama kept making the same mistakes throughout the match: his serve return was wrong, and his volley angle was too large. Sanada never corrected him once."
"He's not the coach, he's the partner, and he doesn't even provide basic guidance."
"That's not how you raise a child. If you yell at a hungry child, will they eat their fill or grow taller?"
"Is it impressive that a third-year student, who is also the vice-captain of the team, can make a first-year student feel helpless?"
Every word hits the nail on the head, spoken in a calm tone, yet it's so venomous it sends chills down your spine.
The expressions of Rikkai's members changed slightly, but no one refuted them. They were aware of these issues, but no one had ever dared to say them so bluntly.
"And Sanada's special move in that last game."
Wang Yueling shook her head. "In the third game, using your special move repeatedly on an unfamiliar court was a very unwise move. Without proper footwork, trying to hit the ball with a teleportation motion on a grass court caused your foot to slip and your racket to miss."
"It's like wearing leather shoes to ice skate. You've just gotten a firm footing, and the next second you have to do a triple jump."
Oshitari pushed up his glasses, his lips twitching slightly. Kirihara stared wide-eyed, mouth agape. Marui nearly dropped his chewing gum.
"Qingshan also has significant problems."
Mochizuki Ryo changed the subject, focusing on someone who wouldn't let anyone off the hook, "He's overly nervous. The more nervous he is, the stiffer his hands become, the slower he moves, and the more incorrect his power generation. But half of his problems stem from being scared by his partner. If Sanada doesn't change his attitude, Aoyama won't play well either."
"However, there is one thing worth mentioning about Aoyama: his tackling ideas were correct in several of these three games, but his technique was not up to par."
"Let's talk about Liu's group..."
Wang Yueling stopped after saying just the beginning, put down her pen, and glanced at the curious faces of the people around her.
He deliberately picked up the iced tea on the table, took an elegant sip, and moistened his throat.
"How's it going with Senior Liu's group? Senior, tell me quickly!" Kirihara was getting impatient seeing his leisurely manner. He reached out and grabbed his fluffy curly hair, wishing he could pour all the tea down his throat for him.
Wang Yueling was amused by his scratching and rubbing, so she stopped teasing them, cleared her throat, and continued.
"Koizumi played well. He has a solid foundation and strong execution. He followed Yanagi's instructions precisely and didn't make any major mistakes throughout the match. For a first-year student from another school to be able to partner with Rikkai's staff officer like this shows that he did his homework before the match."
"But Liu has more problems than his partner." Mochizuki Ryo's gaze fell on Liu Renji on the court.
Marui listened to him say this, popped the bubble on his lips, and was a little confused as to why he said that, so he asked directly.
"Renji, didn't he play very well? His doubles match with that first-year student from Hyotei was also quite good. What's wrong with him?"
His question was also the question of everyone else at Hyotei and Rikkai.
In their view, Liu's team has played well so far in this match, with no major problems, and their teamwork is quite good.
Are you still not satisfied with how well you played doubles?!
"Liu's data is indeed very useful in doubles tennis. His predictions are accurate, his play is well-coordinated, and he dominates the entire game."
Wang Yueling picked up the pen and twirled it deftly between her fingers, explaining their questions calmly and slowly, "But... he relies too much on data and lacks flexibility on the spot."
"In the second set just now, Sanada suddenly launched a completely unpredictable attack. Yanagi was still memorizing the data for the first few points and reacted too slowly, losing all the points."
"And his teamwork with his partner."
"Koizumi is reliable, but Ryuta trusts him."
"There was a point where Koizumi defended his side, and Yanagi completely stopped covering that side. This time it didn't go wrong because Koizumi was consistent, but what if he hadn't been able to return that shot?"
"Over-trusting your partner is also a risk."
"There are no absolutely safe zones on the doubles court; you have to be ready to cover for every point. Also, even though they noticed Koizumi's positioning was off, they didn't correct it."
"What doubles needs is clear direction, not gentle companionship."
After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
The poison is truly potent, and the accuracy is truly remarkable.
In just three rounds, he uncovered and analyzed every detail that no one else had noticed.
The playfulness in Niou's eyes faded, replaced by a more serious expression; Yagyu paused in pushing up his glasses, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes; Marui stopped blowing bubbles, looked at Yagyu and then at Mochizuki Ryo, swallowed hard, and seemed lost in thought.
Kirihara listened with great interest, even more attentively than when watching the game, his eyes practically sparkling.
"Senior! You only watched three rounds, and you even spotted the flaws in your partners' teamwork. That's amazing!"
Mochizuki Ryo, feeling a bit proud from the flattery, raised her chin, glanced at the still one-sided doubles match on the court, and then looked down at the time on her phone.
His tone suddenly rose, carrying a cold and stern air, "Kirihara Akaya, Marui Bunta."
Kirihara and Marui were called by their names and simultaneously jolted awake, instinctively standing at attention.
"It's time for the second singles match. Go to the court and warm up."
Kirihara snapped back to reality, tossing his seaweed-covered head back. Marui also snapped out of his daze, chewing his gum rapidly. The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the fighting spirit in each other's eyes.
Wang Yueling slowly added a sentence from behind, her tone carrying an eerie gentleness.
"Play well, or I'll start yelling at you."
The two paused, swallowing hard at the same time.
They had just heard the head coach thoroughly criticize Rikkai's two "giants." Now that it was their turn to play, the two felt uneasy.
Marui wore his signature confident smile, glanced at Kirihara beside him, but was also making plans in his mind.
"Ha! If anyone's faulty, it'll be Akaya's. I'm Rikkai's genius, what fault could I possibly have? Hmm, that's right. Akaya's the one who'll be laughed at."
The two of them miraculously agreed on who would lose face.
Kirihara was also thinking about this when he glanced at Marui and gave a soft "humph".
He was also muttering to himself.
"I am Rikkai's ace, I will never lose, and I will never be scolded... Although Marui-senpai's interception is very good, his stamina is so bad, he will definitely falter in the later stages of the game."
He'll be the one getting scolded then; I have a secret weapon.
They stood on either side of the field, their feet treading on the unfamiliar grass. The anti-slip studs on their shoes left small imprints on the soft, wet turf.
The two were locked in a fierce confrontation; the moment their eyes met, tensions instantly flared.