The dragon boat teams of Guangdong and Guizhou each won two first prizes of men and women's races, respectively, at the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities in Sanya, a coastal city in south China's island province of Hainan, on Sunday.
The Guangdong men's team and the Guizhou women's team both prevailed in the two events of standard dragon boat and small dragon boat in 200-meter straight races for men and women.
The Guangdong team fiercely competed with the rowers of Guizhou, Fujian, and Hubei to win the first prize in the standard dragon boat final with 40.686 seconds.
"I feel the final today was quite intense. The teams of Guizhou and Fujian are rather tough competitors and we indeed felt the pressure when rowing. Finally, we won the game despite the pressure, which is indeed not easy," said Zeng Delin, a member of the Guangdong Men's Dragon Boat Team.
In the following final race of small dragon boat, the team's12 top players also did well and won the game.
In women's group, the Guizhou Women's Dragon Boat Team outperformed strong competitors to win both the standard and small dragon boat finals.
"At the beginning of the race, all our players were very nervous. In the process of the race, the competition was really tight. When we were approaching the final line, we made our greatest efforts, and we made it finally," said Luo Xingying, member of the Guizhou Women's Dragon Boat Team.
The 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China opened last Friday night in Sanya. Nearly 7,000 athletes representing 35 delegations across China will compete in 18 sports and 170 demonstration sports during the nine-day event, which will conclude on November 30.
Beginning with less than 400 athletes from 13 ethnic groups, the event was first launched in 1953 with only eight sports. It's one of China's oldest national multisport games.
Guangdong, Guizhou win dragon boat races of National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities
The Hainan team swept both the men's and women's titles in the debuted coconut tree climbing competition at the China's biggest ethnic sports event on Sunday.
This outcome is unsurprising, given that the sport originated in the province as a common practice for picking coconuts.
Held in the city of Sanya, the 12th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of China saw the debut of coconut tree climbing.
Participants are required to ascend a rather narrow-looking piece of timber in the quickest time and hit the button at the top. It is a race against time and a battle of techniques. And since this sport's most important apparatus is unique to Hainan Province, it is no wonder that the hosts are pretty good at it.
Luo Jun of the Li ethnic group won the men's title in a time of 6.188 seconds, and Fu Shijun, whose ethnicity is Han, won the women's title in 6.663 seconds. Both are from Hainan and delighted to have the chance to show their abilities in front of a home crowd and promote their sport.
"I'm definitely excited. It never occurred to me that I should win the title, but unexpectedly, I really made it. I'm very excited and thrilled. All of us in Hainan would climb up the three to pick coconuts if we want drink fresh coconut juice. Now thanks to the game, more has come to know the sport of coconut tree climbing, which is good to promote Hainan's traditional sports," said Luo.
"I'm a sprinter, and I believe my training has helped build my explosive power, which gives me an advantage in climbing. When I was younger, I always wanted to climb trees and pick coconuts to drink fresh coconut juice, but I didn't have the strength to do it. Now that I'm stronger, I decided to try the sport and fulfill that childhood dream. Winning the first-ever title at home feels incredible, especially because I can bring glory to Hainan," said Fu.
The National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities, held every four years since its inception in 1953, is primarily focused on mass sports activities. Therefore, the participants are mainly non-professional athletes.
The event, which opened last Friday, will run until this coming Saturday.
Hainan sweeps men, women's titles in coconut tree climbing
