Discussion Match Review - Eiai vs Touhoku

Kaoz · Sep 8, 2017

About this thread

The purpose of match review threads is to look back on completed matches as a whole, discern meanings that weren't obvious in the context of individual chapters and create an easy to access archive of important discussion points for future reference.

This is meant to be a community project. As such, only a summary of key events is provided below to start us off.

Summary

Eiai takes on the defending national champion Touhoku International as well as their star player, Kyosuke Suzaku. Nicknamed "Emperor", he is hailed as the strongest golfer in Japanese high school, surpassing even Youzan Miura. Special rules apply in this match. In addition to their four regulars, each school selects a promising rookie to participate – Eiai picks Robo whereas Touhoku chooses the giant Kaoru Sejima. The four players with the lowest scores make up the teams' overall scores.

Both teams were evenly matched before the turn, however, near the end of the first half, Shintaro's old arm injury flared up again, forcing him to retire. As a result, Robo's score had to be counted, no matter what, leaving Eiai at a severe disadvantage. To further rub salt into the wound, Touhoku went on an all-out offensive right after the turn, opening an eight point gap in an instant and leaving the Eiai regulars in shock.

Even though the situation looked dire, Robo didn't give up and his resolve inspired his teammates. In the last third of the match, Rion, Gen and Sota mounted a comeback with Rion going as far as achieving a new personal best score. In the end the outcome came down to Robo and Kyosuke on the final hole and while Kyosuke set up for a birdie, Robo beat him out with a chip-in eagle, sealing Eiai's victory.

Rion Osanai (PB: 70 -> 68) vs Takeshi Fuwa (PB: 67)

Serpent Bite vs Hook Master.
Both of them were evenly matched until Rion scored an eagle on the 16th hole.

Gen Kuroda (PB: 66) vs Toma Kakezawa (PB: 65)

Long-distance Putter vs Club Specialist.
Both of them played a quiet round. Despite some good plays by Toma, Gen managed to stay ahead at all times.

Shintaro Hiiragi (PB: 68) vs Daigo Munakata (PB: 64)

Reliability vs Power.
Shintaro was forced to retire early due to his injury, leaving Daigo to play the rest of the round by himself.

Sota Karasuma (PB: 62) vs Kaoru Sejima (PB: ?)

Wizard of the Wedge vs Giant.
Kaoru had an impressive start, reaching the green on a par 5 in a mere two shots, but ultimately he didn't stand a chance against Sota.
New special moves: Crimson Flame - Azure Bead

Robato Hatohara (PB: 82 -> 71) vs Kyosuke Suzaku (PB: 59)

Robot vs Emperor.
Throughout the match, Robo used data he was able to gather from Kyosuke and the other players to his advantage to compensate for his lack of experience. Nevertheless, Kyosuke showed his superiority and opened a gap over time.
In his attempt to keep up with Kyosuke, Robo surpassed his limit with two unbelievable shots on the last two holes, and with luck on his side, he was able to bring Eiai victory.

\	Eiai	Touhoku	/
Osanai	68 (-4)	70 (-2)	Fuwa
Kuroda	69 (-3)	71 (-1)	Kakezawa
~~Hiiragi~~	X	69 (-3)	Munakata
Karasuma	65 (-7)	72 (+0)	~~Sejima~~
Hatohara	71 (-1)	64 (-8)	Suzaku
Total	-15	-14	Total