For this challenge, we enlisted the help of our 3rd-year youth players to see "How many balls can you get into the case using the teqboard!"
Each player had 6 balls, making it a 12-ball team challenge!
[Date]
Sunday, February 26th, afternoon
[Venue]
Courtyard inside Antlers Academy House
[Previous Reports]
Part 1
https://www.antlers.co.jp/academy-reports/youth/92236
Part 2
https://www.antlers.co.jp/academy-reports/youth/92376
Part 3
https://www.antlers.co.jp/academy-reports/youth/93090
Part 4
https://www.antlers.co.jp/academy-reports/youth/93656
This marks the final installment of our five-month series, "How many balls can you get into the case using the teqboard!"
This time, we bring you the "Last Place Deciding Match," where the three lowest-ranked pairs will compete in a sudden-death format to determine the absolute last-place pair.
The rules are simple: each pair takes one shot in turn, and the pair that gets the ball into the case is eliminated from contention.
The pair that is unable to get the ball in last will be crowned the last-place finisher.
First up, Ogura and Iki, with Ogura taking on the role of kicker.
You can tell he's a little nervous (lol).
The ball heads towards the case in a beautiful arc!
Ogura's shoulders jump up almost preemptively, while Iki freezes.
And Misawa watches intently...
The two were overjoyed at their miraculous first-shot success!
The expressions of Misawa and Hirayama, still frozen, were priceless.
When the remaining two pairs missed their first shots, Ogura and Iki were through to the next round.
This left two remaining pairs. A battle between Misawa and Manome, who spent a considerable amount of time strategizing, and Ikeda and Sakamoto, who were aligning their thoughts behind them!
Since both pairs missed their first shot, Ogura and Iki's victory was confirmed, and they were overjoyed!
And then, a fierce battle began.
The two pairs, completely out of focus, started to mess around (lol).
They tried again, regaining their composure, but they just couldn't make it.
There were many times when it almost went in, but they couldn't make it, and 10 minutes passed...
And then, after much trial and error, Misawa and Manome finally!
Misawa scored with a header!
The two of them ran off in triumph!
However, Ikeda and Ogura protested, claiming it didn't hit the board's wall!
Misawa once again insisted on using his favorite VAR!
He was so persistent that we actually implemented VAR this time (lol).
After reviewing the footage, it was indeed confirmed that it hit the boundary of the board, not the wall.
Misawa's VAR claim backfired...
Misawa attempts another header.
(The reaction from those around seems to have cooled a bit, though...)
The ball went cleanly into the case! However, Manome unexpectedly entered the frame, preventing us from capturing it...
Despite how much they cared about getting good footage, they completely forgot everything in that final moment.
They definitely showed off their goal celebration (lol).
This means that if Ikeda and Sakamoto miss their next shot, they will be the last place.
The last shot goes to Sakamoto!
He aims for the goal with his most confident header!
The ball barely grazed the case, but unfortunately, it didn't go in.
This confirmed Ikeda and Sakamoto as the last-place finishers.
The last-place pair, Ikeda and Sakamoto, seemed dissatisfied with the result and wanted a rematch (lol).
This challenge was a huge success, with all the 3rd-year students getting excited until the very end.
Look forward to the next Youth Teqball Report, which will feature the 1st-year students!