36 Worthy Opponen

The cheers of the crowd came to a stop.

Truly a magnificent display.

Archery was a very ancient sport. It dated back to the feudal era,as one of the six noble arts of China.

Archery was a skill that Chinese people were proud of, but in modern times, interest and focus on the sport had waned. With China now being more renowned for gymnastics than archery. South Korea had taken over the sport, dominating both the men's and women's events.

Both countries had a deep history in archery and a rivalry to match. But China always fell short, in fact, South Korea's biggest challenger was probably Chinese Taipei which represented Taiwan. Chinese Taipei had emerged in the past three years as a powerhouse of Asian archery.

But now, China had their own hope an 18-year-old 'prodigy'.

The game was suspended for ten seconds because of the cheers of the audience. After the stewards calmed the crowd, the game continued.

Tang Yan's continuous 10 pointers coupled with the reaction of the audience, finally made Cao Yan's mentality fluctuate. His third arrow fell short being a 7 pointer under heavy pressure.

Tang Yan's fourth arrow also fell, only an 8 pointer.

Cao Yan cheered himself up, and his fourth arrow was also an 8 pointer.

However, Tang Yan followed up with a 10-pointer.

This time, his mentality completely collapsed.

In the end, Tang Yan took 2 minutes and 40 seconds to eliminate Cao Yan with 113 points.

The audience was unusually excited, not only because Tang Yan had advanced, but because of the relaxed state which he seemed to do it in, a state that seemed that he still wasn't using his full strength. They were waiting for someone to force him to perform.

Tang Yan made it into the finals and successfully won a place in the Youth Olympics. The process could be said to be quite...easy.

Compared with Tang Yan, Qiu Tian and Han Tianfu's game could be said to be fierce and even tragic.

The two drew even after 12 arrows with scores a 111 points, they went into extra time and continued to match each other with 9 points in the first round and 8 points in the second round.

It wasn't until the third round of overtime that Qiu Tian won shooting a 10 pointer to eliminate Han Tianfu who had shot a 9 pointer.

Because he was the first to finish, Tang Yan watched their contest. After analyzing it, he also reflected over his match. Their game was very fierce, but he could feel that the state of Qiu Tian, ​​was much better than yesterday.

They had five minutes of rest before the final.

Qiu Tian vs Tang Yan.

The current number one domestic archer vs the biggest black horse of this competition.

The battle for the championship not only affected the ownership of the championship, but also influenced people's expectations for the upcoming Asian Games, even the London Olympics which was upcoming.

Compared with Cao Yan and Han Tianfu, Tang Yan didn't have such strong hostility towards Qiu Tian. This genius was only one year older than himself and although he was the relative of the head coach Qiu Anguo, he was very low-key and extremely focus on the sport.

Tang Yan felt pleased and excited he wanted to test his skills against a true genius and Qiu Tian was a great choice.

Of course, these were his fleeting thoughts. When the two came onto the field, he threw those trivial ideas behind him and puts his concentration on the arena.

After the referee signaled the start of the game, the match between the two began.

Qiu Tian's strength was obviously stronger than that of Cao Yan. When he came up, he shot two 9-pointers and one 10-pointer, which was comparable to Tang Yan.

The number of points between the two was very small.

When the game reached the 9th arrow, Tang Yan was on 87 points, only one point more than Qiu Tian.

The game entered the break between the rounds.

The audience couldn't help but whisper as the archers were resting.

Some speculated that it would go to overtime like the previous semi-final between Qiu Tian and Han Tianfu.

Tang Yan sat on the ground at this time, his hands gently rubbing the recurve bow.

Qiu Tian's strength was indeed not bad. He had used 90% of his strength but Qiu Tian was almost tying the game. If he wanted to win this final, he had to use his full strength in the next round, while he had unlocked 70% of Li Guang's abilities, it had just sharpened his instincts, muscle memory and increased the potential of his body. To fully get a hundred percent of the benefits from the upgrade he had to do further training.

Half a meter away, Qiu Tian looked around the stadium. As an athlete who had started archery from the age of 6, he was more familiar with this venue than anyone else. Since picking up a bow, he had been undefeated in China. Outside of Han Tianfu, he had no opponent domestically. Dominating China had never been his dream, that was too easy, he dreamed of challenging the international stage.

He didn't intend to be disdainful but apart from Han Tianfu, who he somewhat appreciated he had looked down on everyone else even Cao Yan was no exception. They were too weak to challenge him, it was a harsh truth but while they were viewed as talented in China they were average internationally.

Tang Yan's sudden appearance was like a glimmer of hope to him, finally someone who could pressure him and make him go all out. Someone who could compete alongside him at an international level. He had never been this excited competing domestically.

...

A minute later, the referee quickly signaled the start of the final round.

Tang Yan stood from the ground, then took the bow with his left hand and walked toward the venue.

Qiu Tian also stood up while taking up his bow.

With the two were getting up, the coaches on both sides, the judges on the panel, the audience in the stands, and everyone at home watching set their eyes to the center of the venue.

The last three arrows.

Tang Yan took a look at the target and then took the first arrow from the arrow pot.

He didn't immediately knock the arrow, but found his center of gravity before picking up the bow.

Seeing this movement, the audience became excited.

Tang Yan, was going all out.

Gently clasping the arrow, Tang Yan adjusted his breathing, and after leaning the arrow on his cheek, he made his breathing almost stagnant.

Everything around him was zoned out, only the sound of his heart beat could be heard.

Soon, the speed of his heart beat slowed.

When the frequency reached the lowest, he released his hand.

"Twang!"

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The arrow flew away from the bowstring and went straight to the yellow point at the center of the target.

"Boom!"

10 points!

No surprise.

After Tang Yan shot, he looked back at Qiu Tian.

Qiu Tian wasn't nervous, he even showed a faint hint of excitement.

After Tang Yan saw this he showed a smile, this Qiu Tian was truly interesting.

Qiu Tian's debut attracted the attention of the audience. 1 point behind, with the opponent shooting a 10-pointer. They were eager to see how this domestic champion would perform.

Like Tang Yan , Qiu Tian's first arrow seemed very cautious. Of the 30 seconds, he spent 20 seconds adjusting.

As the audience began looking at the timer in urgency, he finally knocked the arrow, aimed in one fluid movement and fired.

"Twang!"

The arrow whistled through the air.

"Boom!"

Another arrow through the bullseye.

10 points!

Like Tang Yan, it was also a 10-pointer.

There was a burst of applause on scene.

This decisive battle between the two top archers was truly a sight to behold!