Asian Wushu Championships begin next week
Friday, 09 May 2008
by Nigel Huxtable
The seventh Asian Championships of the fast growing Chinese martial-arts, Wushu will begin in Macau next Tuesday.
More than 200 athletes from some 20 countries and regions will compete for titles across various disciplines and weight categories for the tournament's four days.
The full-contact sport that was officially recognised and sanctioned in 1949 now sees competitors from more than 190 countries around the world kicking, punching and wielding weapons as Chinese martial artists have done for thousands of years.
The sport is also pushing to be included in the Olympic Games and participants had their hopes set on inclusion in Beijing this year.
Although the International Olympic Committee now recognises the sport, it declined to include it as an actual or even exhibition event this year.
However, to go someway to compensate the Chinese, which have been pushing for the sport's inclusion for years, an international wushu competition will be organised by the Beijing Organising Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games during August.
Next week's competition will be used by many athletes as preparation for the Beijing competition which will give locals a chance to see some of the best wushu athletes in top form, said Alex Vong, President of Macau Sport Development Board yesterday.
Teams from the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia will be the ones to watch said Han Jing, who will be representing Macau in the female competition.
Macau's team is still to be decided, however organisers expect a squad of approximately 15 to compete.
The performance of the local martial artists has been improving.
The last Asian Championships, held in Burma saw Macau win three gold, three silver and five bronze medals. This was bettered last year during the world championships in Beijing which saw Macau finish second in the medal tally to the mainland. Local athletes brought home three gold, five silver and four bronze medals.
“Since Macau's participation in the first world championships the wushu athletes have progressed a lot,” said Chan Kwok Wing, president of the Macau Wushu Association.
“We expect Macau athletes to perform well because they are becoming very strong in the sport,” said Mr Vong.
During the eighth World Wushu Championships in 2005, Han Jing won a silver medal in the double edge sword competition named Jiangshu and a gold medal, together with team mate Huang Yanhui, in Duilian, where the two execute a wushu routine displaying the form of the sport.
Ms Han is planning to use next week's event to prepare for the Beijing competition in August and is hoping to win at least one medal.
“My goal is to get one medal,” said Ms Han who has participated twice in the wushu world championships and made three appearances at the Asian titles.
Wushu recognises a wide variety of disciplines that include the use of hands and weapons such as a sword, staff and spear.
The tournament will begin on Tuesday and run until Friday at the Tap Seac Multi-sports pavilion. The Sports Development Board will spend a budget of 5 million patacas to host the event.
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