Chapter 201: Playing Against the World's Second-Ranked Team, Two Crushing Defeats in Doubles

At this moment, Tanegashima came down from the court, carrying his tennis racket.

He extended his right hand, opened his palm, and signaled for Sanada to look at it.

"A coin?"

Sanada expressed his confusion.

Tanegashima explained, "If you want to break through an opponent's blockade, you can only hit balls that make it impossible for the opponent to judge the trajectory."

"Holding a coin in my hand while holding the racket to hit the ball—even I don't know where this ball will end up going."

"Zeus certainly couldn't control the situation!"

"It's just that this method is too opportunistic; the next time I face Zeus, this method will be ineffective."

While speaking, Tanegashima walked forward.

Watching Tanegashima's light-footed back, Sanada had black lines all over his face and said, "To think he won using a method like this."

Takahashi said, "As long as you win, the process isn't important."

"Besides, it's not easy to deal with that omniscient and omnipotent ability of Zeus."

Sanada asked, "Then what if one wants to break through head-on? Is there any way?"

Takahashi thought for a moment and said, "That would only be possible by crushing the opponent with pure strength."

"That is, even if Zeus guesses your trajectory and controls the rhythm of the entire match, he still cannot return your ball."

"However, Greece Team is, after all, the tenth-ranked team in the world; it is very difficult to crush their captain in terms of strength."

"Moreover, Tanegashima's strength is slightly lower than Zeus's, so this method is the optimal solution at this stage."

"Group B of the group stage, Japan Team wins with a record of 3 wins and 0 losses!"

The umpire announced loudly.

A few days later.

Outside the stadium where Japan was playing Switzerland.

Coach Mifune roared at the top of his lungs, "I announce that the squad playing against the Switzerland Team today is named 'Plum' squad."

"The participating members are: Byodoin Houou, Takahashi Yanichi, Duke Watanabe, Irie Kanata, Oomagari Ryuji, Kite Eishiro, and Tokugawa Kazuya."

Kite asked with some confusion, "The team that played against Greece on the first day was called 'Pine' squad."

"The team that played against Australia yesterday was called 'Bamboo' squad."

"Why is it our turn to be called 'Plum' squad? We are a group of men!"

The hand Mifune was holding his wine gourd with visibly froze.

Takahashi added from the side, "Pine, Bamboo, and Plum; I remember they are the Three Friends of Winter."

Kirihara asked, "What does Three Friends of Winter mean?"

Takahashi explained, "The pine is evergreen throughout the four seasons, the bamboo does not wither through the winter, and the plum blossoms in the cold; these three plants can maintain tenacious vitality in the biting cold of winter, so they are called the 'Three Friends of Winter'."

Sanada nodded and said, "Choosing these three characters likely contains the coach's infinite expectations for us."

Ignoring the words of Kirihara and the others, Mifune took a large gulp of wine and said, "Haven't you heard that saying?"

"Men are like plum blossoms, the leaders of all flowers!"

Several black lines streaked across everyone's faces.

Mifune continued, "Alright, no more joking! Today we are playing against the world's second-ranked Switzerland Team!"

"Does everyone have the confidence to secure a victory?"

Kite said, "I have waited for this moment for a long time; it was not easy for it to finally be my turn to play."

"Victory naturally belongs to us."

Yanagi Renji said, "According to my data, the Switzerland Team's captain, Amadeus, is an active professional player."

"Although they lost to the Australia Team before, they are also not easy to deal with."

Kite said, "You data collectors shouldn't just be superstitious about data; people are constantly changing and growing."

"In the past two days, we defeated the Greece Team and the Australia Team in succession. Their world rankings were both ahead of our Japan Team, didn't they still lose to us?"

20 minutes later.

Oomagari Ryuji and Kite Eishiro came down from the court looking dejected.

The scoreboard on the side clearly read 6-1!

Byodoin swept a cold glance at the two who had returned to the rest area and said, "What an ugly loss!"

Yanagi Renji said, "The Switzerland Team's lineup today is completely different from the one they used against the Australia Team."

Oni Jujiro said, "I have investigated; the team they sent against Australia at that time was not their strongest force; those who played were all from the second team."

"They probably didn't expect to lose in the group stage."

Irie continued, "So, they are prepared to exert their full strength in this match."

"Huh, is that Amadeus over there?"

Hearing this, Byodoin looked up at the opposite side and replied, "Yes!"

"That is him, Amadeus, who just finished participating in the professional tennis tour and rushed back for the glory of Switzerland."

"He has been a professional player for two years now."

Kirihara said in surprise, "Longer than the time it took for Borg of the Germany Team to turn professional?"

Duke said, "Yes. Borg has only been a professional for one year, while Amadeus has already been one for two years."

"It is precisely because the Switzerland Team has a professional player like Amadeus that they were able to achieve second place in the world tournament."

……

20 minutes later.

Duke and Tokugawa both walked off the court, looking disheveled.

On the scoreboard beside the court hung a large 6-3!

Duke walked back to the rest area, covered in sweat, and said to Byodoin, "Boss, I'm sorry!"

Byodoin crossed his arms, his expression somewhat grave, and said, "This is the strength of the world's number two, the Switzerland Team."

"The victories of the past two days came too easily, making us all forget the cruelty of the world."

Oni said somewhat seriously, "Both doubles matches were crushing defeats; if we lose the next match as well, then we will have completely lost to Switzerland."

Mifune General Coach tilted his head back to take a drink of alcohol and said, "It doesn't matter; even if we lose, we can still qualify as the second-place team in the group stage."

"And to prevent losing all three matches, I have specially made preparations."

Irie said, "In that case, who is our Singles No. 3?"

"Starting from this match, the match order submitted before the game cannot be changed."

Takahashi took off his jacket, picked up his tennis racket, and said, "It's me."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions relaxed.

Takahashi is very reliable!

He defeated Q. P in the exhibition match; with him playing Singles No. 3, he will surely secure a victory.

At this moment, a voice came over the broadcast.

"Next, we begin the Singles No. 3 match."

……

On the other side of the court, a tall figure carrying a tennis racket walked out from the Shadow.

That curly hair, that slender figure.

It was none other than Amadeus!

Drops of cold sweat fell down Oishi's face as he said, "Is the opponent's Singles No. 3 actually Amadeus?"

"An active professional player?"

Oni's expression became serious again, and he said, "With the Switzerland Team's lineup, putting all their strongest players out first, are they planning to finish us off in three matches?"

Irie said, "It's possible! Losing to Australia before has made them start putting effort into their match order."

"It's just that I didn't expect Amadeus, as a professional player, to be willing to play in Singles No. 3."

Kirihara, listening to everyone's discussion from the side, felt somewhat worried and asked Mifune, "Coach, between that Amadeus and the Germany Team's Q. P from before, who is stronger? Is it the professional player Amadeus?"

Mifune pondered and said, "Not necessarily. The Perfect Quality Q. P might not compare to Amadeus, but for a Q. P who has evolved to Ultimate Quality, I cannot judge who is stronger between him and Amadeus."

"In any case, this will be a brilliant match."